Chennai: India set up a quarterfinal clash with Australia after beating the West Indies by 80 runs to finish second in Group B of the World Cup here on Saturday.
MS Dhoni chose to open the bowling with R Ashwin and the offie struck in the fourth over of his spell to get India the much-needed early breakthrough
Ashwin seemed to have caught Kirk Edwards (17) right in front with his 'carrom' ball but umpire Steve Davies gave it not out. Dhoni chose to review the decision which came out successful as the TV umpire overruled the on-field call to give Edwards out.
Dhoni also pressed Harbhajan Singh into service in the sixth over of the West Indies innings after just a couple of overs form Zaheer Khan, thereby tying Caribbean batsmen with off-spin from both ends.
But Darren Bravo and Devon Smith played through a tricky phase and started picking up the scoring rate en route to bringing up the 50-run partnership for the second wicket.
Dhoni, though, kept ringing changes and surprised the Windies by bringing Suresh Raina on to bowl. The part-timer didn't take time to get India their second wicket by dismissing Bravo (22) in his first over when the West Indian southpaw mishit a long-hop straight into the lap of Harbhajan at long-on.
But Smith kept going about his task efficiently with a fifty and got his team a boundary every now and then to keep the required run-rate under control.
In the meanwhile, Dhoni held back eight overs from Zaheer who returned only in the 30th over but struck right away to break a 63-run patnership between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Smith. The Indian spearhead went through Smith's defences to dismiss him for 81.
That gave Harbhajan a lift who made it a double blow in the very next over by removing the dangerous Kieron Pollard (1) who holed out at long-on.
Wicketkeeper Devon Thomas then strode in to join Sarwan who was holding the other end intact.
Dhoni, on the other hand, kept chopping and changing his bowlers, this time bringing in Yuvraj Singh who seemed to have recovered from the dehydration bout he suffered during his century knock.
Yuvraj didn't take long to produce a jaffer that drew Thomas (2) out of his crease, enough to allow Dhoni take the bails off in a flash.
The West Indies' fall didn't halt there, with captain Darren Sammy (2) becoming the next casualty by way of a run-out, followed by Andre Russell who cut a wide Yuvraj delivery straight into the hands of a waiting Yusuf Pathan at point.
With last-hope Sarwan still there, West Indies chose to take the batting powerplay in the 39th over.
But it was all too late in the day for the West Indies who, by now, had lost all the power required in the powerplay.
Sulieman Benn (3) was the eighth Caribbean wicket to fall as he tried to loft Zaheer over mid on but could only hit it as far as Munaf Patel.
With the writing on the wall, Sarwan, having reached 39 off 68 balls, tried to launch a last-gasp effort but failed miserbaly to become Zaheer's third scalp of the day.
In pics: India vs West Indies
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