Chennai, March 20: An all-round performance from Yuvraj Singh set up an impressive victory for India against West Indies in the last group game of the 2011 ICC World Cup. Yuvraj’s knock of 113 and his two wickets for 18 runs helped India beat the Caribbean side by 80 runs in Chennai.
Chasing India’s total of 268, the West Indies top-order put their side in a winning position for more than half their innings. Opener Devon Smith struck fruitful partnerships with Darren Bravo (57 off 10.4 overs) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (63 off 13.3 overs) that brought the West Indies side to within 115 runs of victory with seven wickets and 20 overs to spare.
With things slipping from India’s hand, MS Dhoni brought Zaheer Khan back into the attack. The strike bowler immediately responded with Smith’s wicket – the batsman fell on 81. Eight deliveries later, the dangerous Kieron Pollard (1) fell to Harbhajan Singh and India were back in the game.
Yuvraj then took two wickets off successive overs and with Darren Sammy (2) running himself out between those wickets, the West Indies run chase went horribly wrong with the score reading 165 for seven in 37 overs. The end came six overs later with West Indies being bowled out for 188. Zaheer Khan took three wickets for India, while Yuvraj and R Ashwin took two each.
Earlier, India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. Chennai fans hoping to see Sachin Tendulkar bring up his 100th international century were in for a disappointment as Tendulkar (2) edged a Ravi Rampaul delivery to wicketkeeper Devon Thomas in the very first over of the innings. Although umpire Steve Davis ruled Tendulkar not out, the master batsman decided to walk back of his own accord.
Gautam Gambhir, opening the innings in Sehwag’s absence, played a handy knock of 22 (off 26 balls) but got out trying to up the scoring rate. The left-handed batsman tried to hit Rampaul over the off-side but only ended up getting a thick edge off his bat, Andre Russell completing a comfortable catch at third man. India were 51 for two in 8.3 overs at this stage.
However, Yuvraj and Virat Kohli did not give the West Indies any further opportunities. The two batsmen struck an effective 122-run partnership for the third wicket that saw Kohli reach yet another half-century in ODIs. Kohli (59) was eventually bowled by Rampaul as he looked to hit the pacer over mid-wicket. At the fall of Kohli’s wicket, India were looking good for a big score with the scoreboard reading 173 for three in 32.2 overs.
Yuvraj, battling dehydration in the Chennai heat, then lifted Indian spirits bringing up his 13th ODI century when he hit Kieron Pollard for a single to long-off in the 41st over of the Indian innings.
However, like in the previous game against South Africa where India lost nine wickets for 29 runs, the hosts once again failed to close their innings with a bang. Including MS Dhoni’s stumping, with the score at 218 in 41.4 overs, India lost their last seven wickets for just 50 runs in 7.4 overs. Ravi Rampaul led the late West Indies fight-back – his best ever ODI figures of five for 51 helped restrict India to a score of 268 all out in 49.1 overs.
The win has secured second position for India in Group B which means that they will now play Australia in the quarter-final at Ahmedabad on March 24. West Indies, meanwhile, will play Group A table-toppers Pakistan in another quarter-final.
Brief scores: India 268 all out in 49.1 overs(Yuvraj Singh 113, Virat Kohli 59, Ravi Rampaul 5/51) beat West Indies 188 all out in 43 overs (Devon Smith 81, Ramnaresh Sarwan 39, Zaheer Khan 3/26, Yuvraj Singh 2/18) by 80 runs
Man-of-the-match: Yuvraj Singh for his all-round performance -113 runs with the bat and bowling figures of 4-0-18-2
