India escaped the storm, but ran into a Gayle, to employ a pun, when the first One-day international got underway.
Updated at 12:10 am
KINGSTON: India escaped the storm, but ran into a Gayle, to employ a pun, when the first One-day international got underway.
The mercurial left-hander struck a superb 124 after the West Indies had been put in to bat on a hot and muggy day which took its toll on the players as the day wore on. Chris Gayle batted with flamboyance, authority and common sense, settling down to play sheet anchor after a blistering start as India's bowlers struggled with their rhythm.
Rahul Dravid began with three slips in Irfan Pathan's first over and two for Munaf Patel. But the close-in fielders were soon banished by Gayle who unleashed an array of spectacular drives, cuts and pulls.
The wicket was plumb, and India's fast bowlers were erratic in line and length, allowing Gayle to pick his spots for boundaries. Pathan began with three wides in his first over, and was never allowed to settle down. Munaf was patchy, and RP Singh, after a decent start, was hit for three fours in an over by Gayle.
Kingston was under siege from rain all through the night, and when the sky was still a foreboding grey on Thursday morning, it seemed that the first ODI would be washed out. But as if on divine instruction, the clouds opened up miraculously, and the ground staff at the Sabina showed that apprehensions about how the West Indies would fare in such crisis during next year's World Cup were unfounded.
Only 10 overs of play was lost when every expert here reckoned that the entire match — and possibly Saturday's too — would be lost. Within an hour of play, however, Dravid was left wondering whether it would not have been better had the rain continued.
The Blue Mountains provided a wonderful backdrop to the under-renovation Sabina and, as word got around of play having started, the spectators started arriving to the ground, providing the 'special' Caribbean ethos to the proceedings, singing Calypsos, blowing bugles, hurling 60-instructions-a-minute to the players.
Some of them India would find useful in chasing down the target.
Scoreboard:
West Indies:
C. Gayle c Dravid b Agarkar 123
R. Morton c Dhoni b Agarkar 23
R. Sarwan lbw b Harbhajan Singh 2
B. Lara c Kaif b Patel 35
S. Chanderpaul c Sehwag b Pathan 18
M. Samuels run out (Sehwag) 10
C. Baugh not out 12
D. Bravo not out 0
Extras (lb15, w7, nb6) 28
Total (6 wkts) 251
Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-94, 3-176, 4-222, 5-233, 6-248.
Bowling: Irfan Pathan 9-1-50-1 (nb2, w5); Munaf Patel 9-1-48-1 (nb2, w1); Rudra Pratap Singh 7-0-45-0 (w3); Harbhajan Singh 9-2-33-1; Ajit Agarkar 9-0-38-2; Sehwag 2-0-22-0.
Overs: 45.
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh and Munaf Patel.
West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh (wk), Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw and Dwayne Bravo.
Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WI) and Asad Rauf (Pakistan)
Match Referee: Chris Broad (Eng).
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