India scrape past Windies to book last-eight spot

Defending champions reduced to 134-6 chasing a modest 183 to win.

PERTH:

Defending champions India survived a scare to beat the West Indies by four wickets at Perth’s WACA Ground on Friday to remain unbeaten in the World Cup and so secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Set a modest 183 to win by the West Indies in their Pool B match, the Indians made hard work of the run chase before captain MS Dhoni steered them home.

Dhoni’s calm 45 not out enabled India to make it four wins from four after they looked in real trouble at 134-6.

The skipper and Ravi Ashwin (16 not out) put on an unbeaten 51 for the seventh wicket, as the unlikely West Indian challenge finally wilted.

Victory kept India on target to claim top spot in the pool, while the West Indies’ last eight hopes are no longer entirely in their own hands after two wins from five matches.

“It was a difficult wicket, with movement and bounce early on. There was a bit of swing for their fast bowlers but I don’t think it misbehaved as much as it did in the first 10 overs of the first innings,” said Dhoni. “Our bowlers stuck to their line and lengths. A lot of batsmen got out to short-pitched balls.”

West Indies skipper Jason Holder said he had no regrets about batting first. “I always thought the wicket was going to be a good one. The batsmen did not stick around long enough. We didn’t apply ourselves well enough and never caught up in the game,” he said.

On a lively pitch that offered pace, bounce and movement, the Indians were clearly unsettled by a short-pitched barrage from the West Indies, which wound back the clock to their halcyon days at a venue their great pace attacks relished.

Jerome Taylor (2-33) sparked the West Indies early on, claiming the wickets of opener Shikhar Dhawan (nine) and Rohit Sharma (seven), while Andre Russell also claimed 2-43. However, their cause wasn’t helped by conceding 19 wides, nine by Russell.

Such a competitive match had seemed highly improbable when the West Indies slumped to 85-7.

However, a fighting half-century from Holder, batting at number nine, and some poor Indian fielding, helped revive the West Indian cause.

Holder’s highest score in ODIs was just 22 until the West Indies’ previous match against South Africa, but he has now made consecutive half-centuries with some clean hitting. 

Re-live the match here

Published in The Express Tribune, March  7^th,  2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.