Thrilling victory for India
CUTTACK: India overcame a top-order collapse and many hiccups in the end game to script a thrilling one-wicket win over West Indies in the first of the five-match ODI series here at the Barabati Stadium on Tuesday night.
Rohit Sharma emerged as the architect of the victory, rescuing the home side literally from the gutter with a gutsy knock of 72, his ninth half-century in the ODIs, which fetched him the man of the match award.
His 83-run sixth wicket partnership with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja helped India crawl back to the game after losing the top-half of the much vaunted batting line-up for a paltry 59 runs.
But the precious contributions of Sharma and Jadeja would have gone down the drain if Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav had not showed nerves of steel and hit up the 11 crucial runs with a boundary each.
After putting up impressive performance with the new ball, the duo made vital contribution with the willow to enable India register their 10th ODI win on the trot at home and third successive at Barabati against West Indies.
While lauding the performance of Sharma, Aaron and Yadav, one must not forget the contributions of Jadeja and Vinay Kumar. Continuing his love-affair with Barabati, where he scored a triple century in a Ranji match against Odisha earlier this month, Jadeja hit a patient 38, which proved invaluable.
After the dismissal of Jadeja and R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar kept India's victory hopes alive, stitching together 42 runs for the eighth wicket with Sharma.
But India's overconfidence in batting could have proved fatal in the day-night contest. Chasing a competitive target, India got off to a flying start, scoring 37 runs in the first four overs.
But Windies new-ball bowlers Kemar Roach and Andre Russell changed the game dramatically, dismissing Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina cheaply. India suffered the biggest setback when captain Sehwag was bowled through the gate by Andre Russell for 20.
Earlier India bowled and fielded well to restrict West Indies to 211 for nine.
Put into bat on a perfect wicket, the West Indians were in deep trouble, losing top three wickets for 52 runs before a precious half-century by in-form Darren Bravo and his 75-run fourth-wicket partnership with rookie Danza Hyatt helped compile the respectable total.
The 22-year-old Bravo displayed ideal temperament and technique to notch up his six ODI half-century (60 off 74 balls, 6x4) before part-time spinner Suresh Raina castled him with a delivery that skidded in after pitching. In fact, the Trinidad & Tobago southpaw looked as the only batsman in the Caribbean side competent of handing the Indian bowling attack.
Young all-rounder Hyatt was unlucky that after providing excellent support to Bravo for the reconstruction of the sagging innings he became a victim of run out. Hyatt took time to settle down, but played some courageous shots in his 54-ball knock of 31, which included two boundaries and one six.
In fact, most of the West Indies batsmen lacked the technique and temperament to face the opposition attack and convert a good start to fifty or a century. One example was Marlon Samuels, who was clean bowled through his gate by an express delivery from Varun Aaron. Compounding their plight star all-rounder Kieron Pollard and skipper Darren Sammy proved to be big flops.
Among the Indian bowlers, young speedsters Umesh Yadav and Aaron stood out, picking up two wickets each. The duo bowled with fire, while maintaining good line and length. Yadav and Aaron were well supported by off-spinner R Ashwin, who was very economic, conceding 30 runs in his quota of 10 overs and taking the prize wicket of Pollard.
CUTTACK: India overcame a top-order collapse and many hiccups in the end game to script a thrilling one-wicket win over West Indies in the first of the five-match ODI series here at the Barabati Stadium on Tuesday night.
Rohit Sharma emerged as the architect of the victory, rescuing the home side literally from the gutter with a gutsy knock of 72, his ninth half-century in the ODIs, which fetched him the man of the match award.
His 83-run sixth wicket partnership with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja helped India crawl back to the game after losing the top-half of the much vaunted batting line-up for a paltry 59 runs.
But the precious contributions of Sharma and Jadeja would have gone down the drain if Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav had not showed nerves of steel and hit up the 11 crucial runs with a boundary each.
After putting up impressive performance with the new ball, the duo made vital contribution with the willow to enable India register their 10th ODI win on the trot at home and third successive at Barabati against West Indies.
While lauding the performance of Sharma, Aaron and Yadav, one must not forget the contributions of Jadeja and Vinay Kumar. Continuing his love-affair with Barabati, where he scored a triple century in a Ranji match against Odisha earlier this month, Jadeja hit a patient 38, which proved invaluable.
After the dismissal of Jadeja and R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar kept India's victory hopes alive, stitching together 42 runs for the eighth wicket with Sharma.
But India's overconfidence in batting could have proved fatal in the day-night contest. Chasing a competitive target, India got off to a flying start, scoring 37 runs in the first four overs.
But Windies new-ball bowlers Kemar Roach and Andre Russell changed the game dramatically, dismissing Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina cheaply. India suffered the biggest setback when captain Sehwag was bowled through the gate by Andre Russell for 20.
Earlier India bowled and fielded well to restrict West Indies to 211 for nine.
Put into bat on a perfect wicket, the West Indians were in deep trouble, losing top three wickets for 52 runs before a precious half-century by in-form Darren Bravo and his 75-run fourth-wicket partnership with rookie Danza Hyatt helped compile the respectable total.
The 22-year-old Bravo displayed ideal temperament and technique to notch up his six ODI half-century (60 off 74 balls, 6x4) before part-time spinner Suresh Raina castled him with a delivery that skidded in after pitching. In fact, the Trinidad & Tobago southpaw looked as the only batsman in the Caribbean side competent of handing the Indian bowling attack.
Young all-rounder Hyatt was unlucky that after providing excellent support to Bravo for the reconstruction of the sagging innings he became a victim of run out. Hyatt took time to settle down, but played some courageous shots in his 54-ball knock of 31, which included two boundaries and one six.
In fact, most of the West Indies batsmen lacked the technique and temperament to face the opposition attack and convert a good start to fifty or a century. One example was Marlon Samuels, who was clean bowled through his gate by an express delivery from Varun Aaron. Compounding their plight star all-rounder Kieron Pollard and skipper Darren Sammy proved to be big flops.
Among the Indian bowlers, young speedsters Umesh Yadav and Aaron stood out, picking up two wickets each. The duo bowled with fire, while maintaining good line and length. Yadav and Aaron were well supported by off-spinner R Ashwin, who was very economic, conceding 30 runs in his quota of 10 overs and taking the prize wicket of Pollard.
News Posted: 30 November, 2011
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