Jamaica: A swashbuckling knock of 86 from 99 balls by Darren Bravo and a solid innings of 75 from 94 balls (retired hurt) by Ramnaresh Sarwan helped West Indies register an emphatic seven wicket victory over India in the fifth and the final ODI at the Sabina Park on Thursday.
The Batting Powerplay proved to be the turning point for Windies as Indian bowlers gave away 57 runs between overs 43 and 47. When Bravo was finally out in the 46th over with 39 still to get, Kieron Pollard and Marlon Samuels plundered 42 runs in only 3.3 overs to seal the issue.
Chasing a competitive score of 251, West Indies lost the in-form opener Lendl Simmons for 6 in 16 balls early when he slashed at a wide one to be caught at the deep third man off the the bowling of Vinay Kumar.
The hosts lost their second wicket when Adrian Barath (17 off 46 balls) went across the line to be adjudged leg before wicket to Amit Mishra as India tightened the screws.
Ramnaresh Sarwan was then joined by the stylish Darren Bravo as the duo shared a brilliant stand of 103 runs before Sarwan was forced to retire hurt because of cramps.
The Indian bowlers kept the check on the West Indies batsman but Darren Bravo had some other ideas when he went on an all out attack on the Indian bowlers in the batting powerplay.
R Ashwin was in for some harsh treatment by Bravo who struck him for a couple of sixes, next in line was leg spinner Mishra who was also thrashed all over the park.
Bravo was in no mood to stop there, he went and hit another six of pacer Vinay Kumar, but when it seemed that he would finish the game without much trouble, he was brilliantly stumped by Parthiv Patel off the bowling of Amit Mishra.
Bravo shared a crucial stand of 57 with Marlon Samules who played sensibly till the end and rotated the strike according to the situation. Bravo hit 3 fours and six sixes in his innings of 86.
Samuels was then joined by the dangerous Kieron Pollard in the middle and he wasted little time to get his act together. He also joined the party and hit the Indian bowlers all over the park.
Marlon Samuels then finished things off for the West Indies when he went after medium pacer Vinay Kumar, hitting him for 20 runs in an over. Samuels was unbeaten on 28 from 25 balls and Pollard scored an unbeaten 24 from 13 balls.
For India Mishra was the pick of the bowlers with 2/46 and Vinay got the other wicket to fall.
Earlier Andre Russell took 4/35 as the West Indies fought back to bowl out India for 251 in 47.3 overs.
Virat Kohli was run out for 94 and Rohit Sharma scored 57 off 72 balls as the visitors recovered from 79/3 to post a competitive total.
Put into bat by the West Indies, India got off to the worst possible start as they lost both openers early.
First to go was Parthiv Patel when he mistimed a pull shot and was spectacularly caught by Windies leg spinner Anthony Martin off Russell. Patel scored just 6 from 11 balls.
Soon to follow him back to the dressing room was fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan who failed to deal with a rising delivery from Windies paceman Kemar Roach to give Ramnaresh Sarwan a straightforward catch in the slips. Dhawan scored 11 from 26 balls which included one four.
Kohli was joined by Manoj Tiwary in the middle, the duo played some brilliant shots all over the park which included a huge six by Tiwary at mid-wicket off the bowling of Darren Sammy.
Kohli and Tiwary added 58 runs between them at a strike rate of over a hundred to take India to respectable position before Pollard struck to dismiss Tiwary for 22 and the visitors were left tottering at 3/79.
Tiwary's dismissal had no effect on Kohli's perfromance as he played some brilliant shots all over the park. He was joined by the in-from Rohit Sharma in the middle and he continued with his fine form.
Both batsmen played sensibly during their 110 run stand as they treated each delivery to its merit.
Just when it seemed that the game was slipping away from the Windies, a needless run out ended Kohli's innings just six runs short from a well deserved century.
Kohli scored 94 from 104 balls that included 10 fours. Pollard then got rid off Indian skipper Raina who played an irresponsible shot and was caught in the deep by Adrian Barath for a duck.
At the other end, Sharma continued playing responsibly and brought up yet another half century in the series. But he could not convert it into a big one as he was clean bowled by Martin for 57 in 72 balls. He hit two boundaries and a huge six.
After Rohit's dismissal the other Indian batsman and the lower order players fell like a pack of cards. Yusuf on his part was looking good to fire all cylinders but failed to handle the extra bounce.
Pathan scored 30 from 29 balls that included two boundaries and a six.
Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar and Ishant Sharma too followed him soon after. India lost their last four batsman for just six runs.
For the West Indies, Russell was the pick of the bowlers, while Roach and Pollard took two wickets each and Martin finished with figures of 1/39.
In pics: West Indies vs India, 5th ODI
Post a Comment
EmoticonClick to see the code!
To insert emoticon you must added at least one space before the code.