TheSportsCampus

< Prev		Next >

After dominating most of their run chase on a day where continuous rain delays kept adjusting the overs and the target, India were under pressure after a poor penultimate over needing 11 runs off the last one for victory. Super skipper MS Dhoni however came up with the goods in the final over, showing nerves of steel to guide India to a 2-1 lead in the one-day series against the West Indies.

In a match that was reduced to 41 overs, then 39, then 36 and finally 27 when the West Indies were batting, the hosts managed to produce a highly competitive 186 for 7. A target that was revised to 195 following a Duckworth-Lewis adjustment. The West Indies innings got off to its usual belligerent start thanks to a quickfire 27 from 14 balls from skipper Chris Gayle. Ramnaresh Sarwan held the fabric of the innings together with a better than a run a ball innings of 62 and was ably assisted by the rest of the batting unit, with all but Jerome Taylor getting into double figures.

For India, Ashish Nehra was once again the pick of the bowlers. The rejuvenated medium pacer went for just 21 from his 5 overs, and picked up the big wickets of Gayle and the Bravo brothers in his spell. Harbhajan chipped in with two wickets, but like most of the Indian bowlers, he too was expensive, going at seven an over.

The Indian innings made the perfect reply as Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir shared in a useful opening partnership of 84 from 12 overs before Karthik (47) was run out by a direct hit from Ravi Rampaul. Another rain delay brought the target down to 159 from 22 overs, with India having 64 more to get from 51 balls. India lost Gambhir (44) soon after the break trying to dab a straight one from Suleiman Benn into the legside for a single, but finding the inside edge through to Ramdin instead.

With 51 still required from 41 balls, the stage looked perfect for Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, but the powerful left-hander fell for just 2 in an attempt to clear the boundary. Dhoni who had promoted himself back up the order to no.3 continued to accumulate well, and looked set to take India to victory with Rohit Sharma, before the latter was dismissed for 11 in an excellent penultimate over from Dwayne Bravo which conceded just 5 runs.

The pressure was on Dhoni to deliver with 11 runs needed off the last over. In a surprise move Chris Gayle tossed the ball to his pace spearhead Jerome Taylor who had been having an ordinary day in the field, and not Rampaul his most economical bowler, who still had an over up his sleeve.

After Pathan grabbed a leg bye off the first ball of the over, Dhoni tonked the second over deep midwicket for a huge six to bring the equation down to jus 4 from 4. Moments later the pair scampered through for the winning runs with a ball to spare. It was an outstanding captain's knock of 46 which took India home in the end.

With this win India now take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four match series. The series stays in St. Lucia for the final one-dayer on Sunday, with the West Indies hopeful that the weather doesn't play spoilsport to what should be another exciting contest.

Mini Scorecard:
West Indies 186/7 (27 overs)
Sarwan 62 (59)      Nehra 3-21
Gayle 27 (14)        Harbhajan 2-35

India 159/4 (21.5 overs)
Karthik 47 (43)       Bernard 1-21
Dhoni 46* (34)       Bravo 1-27

Read about the first one-day international in the series

Read about the second one-day international in the series

File Photograph: ICC T20 World Cup

Check out our cricket photo gallery