Antigua: An innings of substance by Kieron Pollard (70 off 72 balls) and some inexplicable shot selection by Indian batsmen helped the West Indies register their first win of the five-match series, beating India by 103 runs, in the fourth ODI at the Viv Richards Stadium on Monday.
Chasing a competitive score of 250, Indian batsmen fell like a pack of cards and their innings was folded for 146 in 39 overs.
Leg-spinner Anthony Martin was the pick of the Windies bowler with four wickets, while Andre Russell also chipped in with three wickets.
Parthiv Patel started the Indian innings with few crisp boundaries, but Manoj Tiwary looked jittery throughout his 17-ball stay at the wicket. Surviving a scare in the previous over off Kemar Roach when Darren Bravo dropped a sitter in the first slip, Tiwary fell in the next over of Darren Sammy for 2.
Patel (26 off 32 balls) too didn’t stay for long as he became the second victim of Sammy, who went low down to take a sharp return catch.
S Badrinath (12 off 27 balls) looked as jittery as Tiwary before finally succumbing to Russell, who could have got his man, had the umpire not turned down a strong appeal from the bowler.
Virat Kohli (22 off 23 balls) looked confident till his bails were taken off in a flash by wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh on the bowling of Martin.
And when Rohit Sharma was looking solid once again, Indian skipper Suresh Raina (10 off 19 balls) played a reckless shot off Martins and gave a sitter to Kieron Pollard.
If Raina’s shot was unwanted, Yusuf Pathan’s (1 off 2 balls) heave off part-timer Lendl Simmons was appalling. The wickets of the two senior pros of the inexperienced side left them reeling at 114 for six.
Things went bad to worse for the visitors when last match’s hero Sharma too went to what could be another inexplicable attempt to clear the boundary when the situation didn’t demand it. He scored 39 off 47 balls before becoming the third victim of Martin.
The remaining Indian batsmen too gave in meekly as they were all out for 146.
Even though India lost Monday's encounter, they are leading the series 3-1.
Earlier, Pollard’s knock followed by a brief cameo (25 off 14 balls) at the end by Russell took West Indies to a competitive 249/8 in their fifty overs.
Praveen Kumar was the most successful of the Indian bowlers with three wickets, while Amit Mishra contributed with two.
Opting to bowl first, Praveen and Ishant Sharma gave India the perfect start as they got early Windies wickets.
Kumar bowled three maidens on the trot and took the wicket of Ramnaresh Sarwan (1 off 12 balls) during the process. Sarwan slashed a wide delivery from Kumar into the hands of Manoj Tiwary, who was drafted in the side for Shikhar Dhawan, at the backward point.
Tiwary also grabbed the first West Indies wicket when he pouched a simple catch of makeshift opener Danza Hyatt (1 off 4 balls). The right-hander was troubled by Ishant Sharma, who replaced Munaf Patel for Monday's game, throughout his short stay at the crease before touching Sharma's just short of a good length delivery to backward point.
Lendl Simmons struck few lusty blows off Sharma but Indians kept the home side under the pump throughout the mandatory powerplay.
But Simmon continued his attacking batting in the bowling powerplay. He targeted Amit Mishra’s loopy leg-spin and hit him for two maximums over the long-on region.
Darren Bravo, who came back into the side after the first ODI, also got going in Brian Lara’s fashion, both in mannerism and play.
The classical left-hander hit two fours, first off Kumar and second off R Ashwin – who replaced Harbhajan Singh – in consecutive overs.
But after surviving a close run-out scare, Bravo came down the track and hit Mishra’s ball to the hands of Tiwary – who took his third catch of the match gleefully.
Simmons kept the other end in tact by scoring a well-compiled fifty in 56 balls, but lost another partner in the form of Marlon Samuels soon after.
Samuels should consider himself unlucky as Mishra’s googly would have gone over the stumps had it not hit his knee-roll. But umpire Norman Malcolm raised his finger after a little thought.
But the home side’s batsmen were like finding reasons to get themselves out and their latest casualty was Simmons. The right-hander played a fighting knock of 67 off 78 balls before being involved in a senseless run-out with Pollard. Tiwary, who already had three catches up to that point, hit a direct throw to dismiss the well-set batsman.
Pollard, who would dismantle opposition bowlers on other days, played with caution and completed his half century in 58 balls. He also strung an important 96-run stand for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper batsman Carlton Baugh (39 off 57 balls).
But after hitting Mishra for a six and a four in the first over of the batting powerplay, Pollard fell to Ashwin in the next over. He tried to clear the long-off boundary, but gave a simple catch to running Ishant Sharma.
Russell tried to give his side a well-needed impetus which finished at 249.
In pics: West Indies vs India, 4th ODI
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