India clinched a tense 20-run victory over West Indies in the second one-dayer on Wednesday, giving them a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
CUTTACK: Relief flooded over an unbearably tense Barabati Stadium as India recorded a thrilling victory over the West Indies in the Pepsi one-day series. The 20-run win gave India a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
Defending a modest total of 189, India restricted the visitors to 169 after finding themselves in a spot of bother. But they found an unusual match-winner in Ramesh Powar, who wove a web around the West Indies batsmen. His 3 for 42 proved to be a match-winning effort, as much as man-of-the-match Dinesh Kaarthick’s 63 which helped the home team reach a respectable total.
Chasing the none-too-tough target, the West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals but India’s job was made difficult by their usual nemesis Shivnaraine Chanderpaul who, for the second consecutive time in the series, had to end up on the losing side despite a heroic knock. He was the last man out, for 67. Without Lara, the West Indian middle order looked brittle and the Indians — Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar besides Powar — exploited their weakness to quality spin.
But the win had its dose of worries. The Indian batting was back to its old ways. It was, in fact, a veritable disaster. For the third time in the last five matches, the batsmen failed to last the 50 overs. Nagpur has turned out to be an exception, not the rule. But for a workman-like innings by Kaarthick and an enterprising knock by Ajit Agarkar, India would have struggled to cross the three-figure mark. At one stage the score was 90 for seven.
The bounce was slightly uneven but the devil was in the batsmen’s mind. Electing to bat, the Indians struggled against the pace of West Indian bowlers, particularly Darren Powell who bowled with a lot of energy, pace, tenacity and accuracy. No batsmen, barring Kaarthick, could read his line and deception.
Even Sachin Tendulkar was no exception. The little master was a study of struggle. After eight minutes and six balls, he fell rather tamely, pushing one uppishly to mid-on. He was out for a duck.
The dismissal epitomised the struggle of the Indian batsmen, who have a reputation of being tigers at home. But Powell tamed the tigers. Bowling non-stop for 10 overs, the 28-year-old Jamaican returned his career-best figures by finishing with four for 27.
Once he was out of the attack, the Indian batsmen had a lot of freedom to play shots. Kaarthick timed and placed his shots well. His 74-run association for the eighth wicket gave the Indian spinners a decent score to defend.
Agarkar, in the end, played a 47-ball cameo in which he scored 40 with four delectably-hit boundaries. He executed his shots with a lot of power and conviction putting to shame the accomplished batsmen in the team.
Scorecard
India Innings
Sourav Ganguly c Morton b Powell 13
Gautam Gambhir c Ramdin b Bradshaw 2
Rahul Dravid b Powell 22
Sachin Tendulkar c Devon Smith b Powell 0
Dinesh Karthik b Bradshaw 63
Mahendra Dhoni c and b Dwayne Smith 6
Joginder Sharma b Powell 1
Harbhajan Singh b Bravo 6
Ajit Agarkar run out 40
Ramesh Powar b Bravo 5
Zaheer Khan not out 7
Extras (3lb, 1nb, 20w) 24
Total (all out in 48.2 overs) 189.
Fall of wickets: 1 4, 2 35, 3 35, 4 46, 5 66, 6 69, 7 90, 8 152, 9 163, 10 189
Bowling: Ian Bradshaw 10 1 38 2 (1nb, 3w), Jerome Taylor 10 1 38 0 (2w), Daren Powell 10 2 27 4 (2w), Dwayne Smith 9 1 34 1 (2w), Dwayne Bravo 8.2 1 36 2 (7w), Chris Gayle 1 0 13 0 (4w)
West Indies Innings
Chris Gayle lbw b Agarkar 5
Shivnarine Chanderpaul b Khan 66
Devon Smith run out 14
Marlon Samuels c Gambhir b Singh 1
Dwayne Bravo c Gambhir b Powar 31
Runako Morton b Powar 0
Dwayne Smith c Powar b Tendulkar 27
Denesh Ramdin b Powar 6
Ian Bradshaw c Gambhir b Tendulkar 2
Daren Powell run out 1
Jerome Taylor not out 2
Extras (6b, 3lb, 5w) 14
Total (all out in 48.2 overs) 169
Fall of wickets: 1 5, 2 41, 3 42, 4 85, 5 89, 6 139, 7 151, 8 163, 9 166, 10 169
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 8.2 0 25 1, Ajit Agarkar 8 2 23 1 (3w), Joginder Sharma 4 0 16 0, Harbhajan Singh 10 3 29 1, Ramesh Powar 10 0 42 3 (1w), Sachin Tendulkar 8 0 25 2(1w)
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