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PORT-OF-SPAIN (Trinidad), June 2: Left-hander Chris Gayle hammered a quickfire 84 as West Indies thrashed India by seven wickets in the rain-hit fourth One-day International to level the series 1-1 Saturday.
The 22-year-old Jamaican cracked nine fours and three big sixes as West Indies won with 17 balls to spare after bundling out India for 123 to turn Sunday’s fifth one-dayer into a virtual final.
The match was reduced to 25 overs a side after a four-hour delay due to rain, which continued to disrupt the series after forcing the first two matches to be abandoned without a ball being bowled in Kingston, Jamaica.
Gayle put up a blistering display of strokeplay, punishing the Indian bowling attack to all corners of the park with support from Wavell Hinds, who scored 30 off 45 balls.
Medium-pacer Corey Collymore had earlier grabbed three crucial wickets after Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat.
Scoreboard
INDIA:
S.C. Ganguly lbw b Collymore 39
V. Sehwag c Lara b Dillon 0
D. Mongia b Cuffy 13
V.V.S. Laxman run out 2
Yuvraj Singh c Jacobs b Collins 1
R.S. Dravid b Hooper 28
Mohammad Kaif c Gayle b Collymore 12
A.B. Agarkar c Jacobs b Collymore 0
Zaheer Khan b Hooper 7
Harbhajan Singh c Jacobs b Collins 6
T. Yohannan not out 2
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4, NB-4) 13
TOTAL (all out, 25 overs) 123
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-45, 3-53, 4-56, 5-66, 6-86, 7-86, 8-110, 9-118.
BOWLING: Dillon 5-0-24-1 (1w); Cuffy 5-0-40-1 (1nb, 2w); Collins 5-0-21-2 (2nb); Collymore 5-1-14-3; Hooper 5-0-19-2 (1nb, 1w).
WEST INDIES:
C.H. Gayle c Ganguly b Zaheer 84
W.W. Hinds b Yohannan 30
R.R. Sarwan b Yohannan 1
B.C. Lara not out 4
C.L. Hooper not out 1
EXTRAS (W-1, NB-3) 4
TOTAL (for three wkts, 22.1 overs) 124
FALL OF WKTS: 1-117, 2-117, 3-118.
DID NOT BAT: S. Chanderpaul, R.D. Jacobs, M. Dillon, P.T. Collins, C.D. Collymore, C.E. Cuffy.
BOWLING: Zaheer Khan 5-0-14-1 (1nb); Yohannan 5-0-50-2 (1nb); Agarkar 4-0-14-0 (1nb); Harbhajan Singh 5-1-22-0; Sehwag 3.1-0-24-0 (1w).
RESULT: West Indies won by seven wickets.—Reuters
