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India win a truncated match
by CricketArchive Staff Reporter


Ground:Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet
Scorecard:West Indies v India
Player:CH Gayle, RR Sarwan, MS Dhoni
Event:India in West Indies 2009

DateLine: 4th July 2009

 

MS Dhoni kept his nerve in the end to see his side home by six wickets. India had to chase 195 in 27 overs, but another rain break ensured that the target was 159 in 22 overs which they achieved in the last over.

 

A frantic start by Gayle and a well-paced 62 from Sarwan powered West Indies to 185 in 27 overs. As the match was interrupted by rain-breaks, Duckworth-Lewis came into picture and India was set a stiff target of 194. Dhoni had won the toss and with the wet atmosphere around he had no hesitation in inserting the opposition. Gayle was in a murderous mood as he tore into an indifferent Ishant Sharma who consistently bowled short and wide, providing Gayle every opportunity to score freely. He cut and pulled ferociously and even when Nehra found the right line and length to Morton, Gayle threw him off his radar as he lashed him through the covers and then delicately flicked him to fine leg. Gayle’s joyride with the bat ended when he edged a short and wide ball from an impressive Nehra to Dhoni soon after another rain break.

 

Runako Morton couldn't find his timing in the beginning but then slowly he got into his groove as he flicked RP Singh over midwicket and then played a straight drive. Harbhajan Singh beat him in flight couple of times before getting him stumped with a beauty. Sarwan paced his innings well as he found the gaps once the field opened up. He nudged the balls around to collect his ones and twos. He also found the vital boundaries in between as not to let the run rate drop. Chanderpaul meanwhile tried to push the scoring rate up but fell in the process. Sarwan got run-out when he attempted to steal an impossible second. .

 

That dismissal brought in the highly regarded Darren Bravo to the crease and he together with his brother Dwayne Bravo tried to put the innings back on track. Though the youngster made only 21 once again his batting showed glimpses of future greatness as he drove elegantly through the covers and then bludgeoned his way to delightful 21, before he was cleaned up by a Nehra special. In the same over Dhoni plucked a catch out off thin air to dismiss Dwayne Bravo off Nehra. Ramdin found the boundary ropes twice in the last over to push the score past the 180 run mark.

 

The visitors needed a strong start and the opening duo Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir put on a sparkling 84 runs before a direct hit from Ravi Rampaul ended Karthik's innings. Gambhir and Dhoni took the score to 95 for one off 13.3 overs when rain intervened for the fifth time and following a 22-minute delay, the target was revised to 159 in 22 overs. Needing another 64 runs from 51 deliveries, India lost Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh (2) in quick succession.

 

With 11 runs required off the last seven deliveries, Rohit Sharma got dismissed leaving Dhoni to see his team through. A six off the second ball of the last over bowled by Taylor tilted the scales in India's favour and after a couple of balls India got across the line with one ball to spare.

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