Despite Chanderpaul’s valiant unbeaten 149, the Windies find India’s total of 338 too stiff to chase. India leave Nagpur with 1-0 lead.
NAGPUR: Sunday was a typical Indian day — a typical Indian batting pitch saw India produce a typically good batting performance followed by a typically scratchy performance on the field. But for the belligerence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (62 off 42 balls) and Rahul Dravid (54 off 35 balls), the hosts may have ended up on the losing side. However, India leave Nagpur with a 1-0 lead.
India, put in to bat, hammered their way to a mammoth 338 for 3. In reply, West Indies chased brilliantly to come within 15 runs of the target with man-of-the-match Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, 149 off 136 balls, leading the way.
The one positive to come from the game was the confidence that was gained by the batsmen after their struggles in South Africa. Born-again Sourav Ganguly led the way by scoring a classy 98 off 110 balls.
At the other end, Gautam Gambhir (69 off 76 balls) was in an attacking mood. In fact, it was he who took up the attacking mantle first as Ganguly looked to settle down. His wristwork was particularly delightful as the duo put on 100 runs in just 90 balls. It seemed all the more surprising that throughout the tour of South Africa he was ignored when even the likes of Dinesh Kaarthick were opening.
The fall of Gambhir’s wicket brought Sachin Tendulkar (31 off 38 balls) to the wicket. He seemed to settle down into his new job straightaway. But for most of the innings, he seemed content to play second fiddle. Their 70-run partnership set up a perfect platform for India to launch attack in the final 10 overs. Dhoni and Dravid slammed 6 fours and 7 sixes during the period as India put on 112 runs. The final target of 338 was huge and getting close to the target was improbable, winning was almost an impossibility. But the odds didn’t deter the West Indies. And the butter-fingered Indians buoyed their confidence. Both Chris Gayle (dropped on 2 and 11) and Chanderpaul (dropped on 21 and 109) were beneficiaries.They made it count.
For a while, Gayle was in stand-and-deliver mode. The left-hander would simply get his legs out of the way and swing his bat. The result in those early overs was often devastating.
For India, Zaheer Khan started off well by bowling two maidens but S Sreesanth and Ajit Agarkar struggled to maintain a good line. It was only the introduction of Harbhajan that brought things under control. “Bajji’s first spell was very important as we took two wickets and put them under pressure,” said Dravid.
In the end, despite Chanderpaul’s valiant knock and a few cameos from Lara and Co. the challenge of chasing down 338 was too much.
Scoreboard
Indian innnings
Gautam Gambhir c Samuels b Gayle 69
Sourav Ganguly run out 98
Sachin Tendulkar lbw b Gayle 31
Mahendra Dhoni not out 62
Rahul Dravid not out 54
Extras (5b, 8lb, 11w) 24
Total (for three wickets) 338.
Overs: 50. Batting time: 226 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1 144, 2 214, 3 219.
Did not bat: Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan.
Bowling: Ian Bradshaw 6 0 43 0 (2w), Jerome Taylor 10 0 71 0 (3w), Marlon Samuels 10 0 53 0 (2w), Daren Powell 5 0 32 0 (1w), Chris Gayle 9 1 51 2 (2w), Dwayne Bravo 4 0 41 0, Dwayne Smith 6 0 34 0 (1w).
West Indies innings
Chris Gayle c Dravid b Singh 52
Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out 149
Runako Morton b Singh 8
Marlon Samuels b Khan 40
Brian Lara st Dhoni b Tendulkar 31
Dwayne Bravo c Dhoni b Khan 17
Dwayne Smith b Agarkar 1
Denesh Ramdin C Gambhir b Sreesanth 7
Ian Bradshaw run out 0
Jerome Taylor not out 1
Extras (1b, 7lb, 5nb, 5w) 18
Total (for eight wickets) 324.
Overs: 50. Batting time: 234 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1 80, 2 102, 3 175, 4 241, 5 264, 6 269, 7 304, 8 319.
Did not bat: Daren Powell.
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 10 2 48 2 (1nb), Shantakumaran Sreesanth 10 0 79 1 (4nb, 2w), Ajit Agarkar 10 1 75 1, Harbhajan Singh 10 0 60 2 (1w), Sachin Tendulkar 10 0 54 1 (2w).
Toss: Won by West Indies.
Umpires: Billy Bowden, New Zealand, and Suresh Shastri, India.
TV Umpire: GA Pratapkumar, India. Match Referee: Alan Hurst, Australia.
Result: India defeated the West Indies by 14 runs.
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