West Indies completed a 4-1 rout of India with a 19-run win in the final ODI at Trinidad. Virender Sehwag fought valiantly during his 95 but his dismissal effectively ended the Indian chase of this one-day series
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran28-May-2006
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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A cavalier 62 from Dwayno Bravo propelled West Indies past 250, and three
wickets apiece for the inexperienced duo of Jerome Taylor and Dave
Mohammed then stymied India’s run chase to ensure that Brian Lara’s
one-day farewell from the Queen’s Park Oval would be a triumphant one.
Virender Sehwag struck a magnificent, measured 95, but the inability of
anyone else to go past 30 cost India dear as the West Indian bowlers
overcame a mid-innings wobble to inflict another embarrassing defeat on a
team that came here ranked No.3 in the world.Having set India 256 for victory, West Indies found the unlikeliest of
new-ball heroes in Wavell Hinds. Corey Collymore tweaked his ankle in the
very first over, but by then India were already one down, with Robin
Uthappa having played an awful shot. Hinds, who had contributed 32 with
the bat earlier, then had Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing on, as his
promotion to No.3 failed to make the impact that India were hoping for.Sehwag started with a couple of flicks through midwicket for four, and
though he was initially troubled by Mohammed – brought on as early as the
11th over – there were easy pickings to be had off the radar-less Taylor.
A loft over cover, an exquisite square-drive and a delicate glance came in
one over that fetched 19 runs, and when Mohammed was finally worked out,
there was one huge six over long-off.Rahul Dravid had already gone by then, painfully slow to respond to a
Sehwag call, but Yuvraj Singh made light of a crisis situation with some
gorgeously timed drives. When Bravo, West Indies’ go-to man in the series,
came on, Sehwag responded with a superb stroke down to the sightscreen,
and he celebrated a 53-ball half-century with a meaty biff through
midwicket off Dwayne Smith.Yuvraj made effortless progress until his movement became laboured, and a
beautifully disguised googly from Mohammed did him in, leaving Sehwag to
shepherd the middle and lower order. The slide started with the return of
Taylor, as effective in his second spell as he had been hapless in the
first.Mohammad Kaif was too early into the shot, Suresh Raina replicated his Friday dismissal,
and then, most crucially, Sehwag failed to read a slower ball. After going
for 40 in his first six overs, Taylor’s second burst of 3 for 7
effectively settled the game. Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar took India
within reach but ultimately, like the entire team in this series, they
fell well short.India had been insipid in the field as well, dropping two catches and
conceding 13 wides and three no-balls in a listless display after Dravid
won the toss. Both lapses turned out to be incredibly costly – Chris Gayle off
the second ball of the match, and Bravo when he had made just 24. S
Sreesanth was the bowler to suffer the first time, with Dhoni tipping the
outside edge down to the boundary, goalkeeper style, while Agarkar was the
one left shaking his head later in the innings, after Uthappa put down a
relatively straightforward chance at deep square leg.Gayle made the most of the reprieve, and Sreesanth was left fuming after
being crashed through cover, lashed over midwicket and then lofted over
extra-cover and mid-on. Sewnarine Chattergoon had lasted just one ball
from Agarkar, but with Gayle in insouciant mood, runs came at a rapid
clip. Sarwan, by contrast, started hesitantly, and was fortunate when an
outside edge just evaded Raina at second slip.Munaf Patel was initially economical without being especially penetrative,
and with Gayle showing no signs of throttling back, Dravid had little
option but to delay the Powerplays till the 17th over, by which time both
Harbhajan and Sehwag had come on to bowl. Gayle didn’t temper his
approach, and a meaty swipe to midwicket and a well-executed reverse sweep
from successive Sehwag deliveries took him past 50.
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The very next ball, however, impetuosity got the better of him, giving
India a glimmer of hope. That was the cue for delirium as Lara walked out
to rapturous acclaim, and a magnificent square-drive off Harbhajan further
enlivened the mood. But Sehwag’s excellent spell, and Sarwan being struck
a painful blow on the hand by a throw from midwicket, put the brakes on
the scoring, as both batsmen found it an ordeal to time the ball
effectively on a stop-start pitch. Sreesanth, who had gone for 25 in his
first three overs, came back much improved, bowling two types of slower
balls to confound even Lara.Sarwan went for 52, trying to force the pace, and though Lara struck a sublime
straight six off Harbhajan, Agarkar’s throwing arm was to prove too much
for him. He walked off with 36 to his name, waving his bat in every
direction, but there was to be no respite for India as Wavell Hinds and Bravo
thrilled the crowd in the final overs.Bravo’s running between the wickets was exceptional, with 10 twos
scampered in his 50, and he thumped both Sreesanth and Munaf repeatedly
over cover as the shackles were emphatically broken. Hinds also joined in,
smashing two fours over midwicket before getting under a low full toss.Bravo was undaunted, playing with the confidence of a man who has turned
more than one game in the space of the past 10 days. His unbeaten 61 on
Friday was instrumental in West Indies clinching the series. Today, he
went one better, and despite a heroic innings from Sehwag, it was enough
to seal an emphatic 4-1 triumph for a resurgent side.
How they were out
Sewnarine Chattergoon b Agarkar 0 (8 for 1)
Chris Gayle b Sehwag 51 (90 for 2)
Ramnaresh Sarwan b Sreesanth 52 (137 for 3)
Brian Lara run out (Agarkar) 36 (165 for 4)
Wavell Hinds c Sehwag b Agarkar 32 (243 for 5)
Dwayne Smith b Munaf 1 (251 for 6)
India
Robin Uthappa c Ramdin b Hinds 0 (0 for 1)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni b Hinds 14 (26 for 2)
Rahul Dravid run out (Mohammed) 18 (73 for 3)
Yuvraj Singh b Mohammed 26 (130 for 4)
Mohammad Kaif c Gayle b Taylor 12 (170 for 5)
Suresh Raina c Ramdin b Taylor 2 (180 for 6)
Virender Sehwag c Gayle b Taylor 95 (189 for 7)
Harbhajan Singh c Bradshaw (sub) b Mohammed 26 (230 for 8)
Munaf Patel c Chattergoon b Mohammed 0 (231 for 9)
Ajit Agarkar c Smith b Gayle 21 (236 all out)
