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| May 28, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1427 |
Bravo, Lara help West Indies wrap up series
PORT-OF-SPAIN, May 27: Half-centuries from hometown boys Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo piloted West Indies to a comfortable six-wicket victory in the fourth one-day international against India at Queen's Park Oval on Friday (partly reported in Saturday’s edition).
Chasing a modest 218 for victory from their allocation of 50 overs, West Indies hit the jackpot off the last ball of the 44th over, bowled by Suresh Raina, which Wavell Hinds carted to the deep mid-wicket boundary for four.
The victory gave West Indies an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series which concludes on Sunday at the same venue, and was their first major series win, since unexpectedly clinching the ICC Champions Trophy two years ago under Lara.
It is also the first series victory for West Indies in a bilateral series against opponents rated higher than them on the ICC ODI Rankings, since they also prevailed over India 4-3 on the sub-continent four years ago.
Lara, a struggler for most of the series, showed a timely return to form to top-score for his side with 69 from 95 balls that contained eight fours and one six.
He gained admirable support from Bravo, whose undefeated 61 from 62 balls that included three fours and one six, helped to earn him the man-of-the-match award.
Lara and Bravo added 91 for the fourth wicket before the West Indies captain was caught at deep mid-off in the 40th over off Ramesh Powar, whose two wickets for 56 runs from nine overs made him the most successful Indian bowler.
Chris Gayle bludgeoned India's new ball pair of Irfan Pathan and Shantha Sreesanth to give West Indies a positive start on his way to 46 off 70 balls that included seven fours and one six.
Gayle reserved special treatment for Sreesanth and swung him high over mid-wicket for a six that flew straight out of the ground.
Pathan made the breakthrough, when he had Marlon Samuels lbw for nine in the fifth over, and Ajit Agarkar then sent jitters into the West Indies camp, when he had the in-form Ramnaresh Sarwan caught at square leg for six trying a pull to leave the home team 49 for two in the ninth over.
Lara entered to rapturous applause from the crowd in the packed stadium and he blossomed to stabilise the innings in a stand of 42 for the third wicket before Gayle was caught at long-off off Powar in the 23rd over and Bravo arrived to carry West Indies home.
Scoreboard
INDIA:
V. Sehwag c Gayle b Bradshaw 11
R. Dravid c Sarwan b Collymore 15
S. K. Raina c Sarwan b Bradshaw 7
Yuvraj Singh c Baugh b Edwards 52
Mohammad Kaif b Bravo 62
M.S. Dhoni not out 46
Irfan Pathan c Collymore b Bravo 8
A.B. Agarkar b Bravo 0
R.R. Powar not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-9, NB-2) 16
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 217
DID NOT BAT: Harbhajan Singh, S. Sreesanth.
FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-28, 3-47, 4-127, 5-188, 6-202, 7-206.
BOWLING: Edwards 8-1-19-1 (1w); Bradshaw 10-0-41-2 (1nb, 4w); Collymore 9-2-49-1 (3w); Bravo 5-0-32-3 (1w); Gayle 6-0-28-0; Samuels 10-1-37-0; Smith 2-0-6-0.
WEST INDIES:
C.H. Gayle c Agarkar b Powar 46
M.N. Samuels lbw b Pathan 9
R.R. Sarwan c Sehwag b Agarkar 6
B.C. Lara c Raina b Powar 69
D.J.J. Bravo not out 61
W.W. Hinds not out 13
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-8, NB-1) 14
TOTAL (for four wkts, 44 overs) 218
DID NOT BAT: D.R. Smith, C.S. Baugh, I.D.R. Bradshaw, C.D. Collymore, F.H. Edwards
FALL OF WKTS: 1-28, 2-49, 3-91, 4-182.
BOWLING: Irfan Pathan 5-0-32-1 (1nb, 4w); Sreesanth 9-1-39-0; Agarkar 8-1-24-0 (1w); Harbhajan Singh 10-1-42-0 (1w); Powar 9-0-56-2 (1w); Yuvraj Singh 2-0-10-0; Raina 1-0-10-0.
UMPIRES: B.R. Doctrove (West Indies) and S.J.A. Taufel (Australia).TV UMPIRE: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies).
MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Dwayne Bravo.
—Agencies
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