CHENNAI, Jan 27: Marlon Samuels and skipper Brian Lara lifted the West Indies to a three-wicket victory after pace bowler Dwayne Bravo's four-wicket burst curbed India's run spree in the third One-day International here on Saturday.
Samuels’s authoritative 95-ball 98 and his 127-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Lara (83) helped the West Indies reach 270-7 in 43.4 overs in reply to India's score of 268 from 48 overs.
Bravo returned career-best figures of four for 34 to stop India's run-feast triggered by brisk half-centuries from opener Robin Uthappa (70), star batsman Sachin Tendulkar (60) and skipper Rahul Dravid (57).
Bravo's four dismissals were among India’s last seven wicket that tumbled for 36 runs.
The West Indies lost opener Chris Gayle for a first-ball duck and Runako Morton for one before Samuels helped steady the innings through a 65-run partnership with opener Devon Smith (33), whose departure brought Lara into the middle.
Gayle’s duck was the 16th time he has failed to get off the mark. He and Lara now share the dubious record for most zero-run dismissals by the West Indies batsmen in ODIs.
The West Indies captain struck two sixes and 10 boundaries from 88 deliveries to take the initiative away from India. The victory brought the West Indies back into the four-match series after losing the previous two games.
Samuels struck one six and 12 boundaries from 95 deliveries, but edged pace bowler Ajit Agarkar (3-45) to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik when he appeared on course to a century.
Lara fell to a miscued off-drive, sending a high catch to Uthappa in the covers off Ramesh Powar.
The West Indies were just 11 short of India's total when Lara fell, but lost two more wickets before reaching the target.
The West Indies had won 4-1 in the ODIs when India toured the Caribbean islands last year.
Earlier, Tendulkar benefited from two muffed chances to overcome his lean run of scores before the spotlight shifted to Bravo.
Sent crashing for 19 runs in his first over, Bravo struck back his dismiss Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh (10), Dinesh Karthik (8) and last man Shantakumaran Sreesanth (1).
Tendulkar posted his 75th half-century and shared a 106-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Dravid.
Dravid also posted his 75th half-century in ODIs and the second of the current series, while Uthappa pressed for his inclusion in the World Cup squad with an aggressive knock that set India off to a rousing start despite the early departure of left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir for zero.–AP
Scoreboard
India
A.R.Uthappa c Simmons b Gayle 70
G.Gambhir c Simmons b Powell 0
S.K.Raina c Lara b Taylor 23
S.R.Tendulkar c Morton b Bravo 60
R.A.Dravid c Emrit b Gayle 57
Y.Singh c and b Bravo 10
K.D.Karthick c Ramdin b Bravo 8
A.B.Agarkar c Morton b Samuels 2
R.R.Powar c and b Taylor 5
A.Kumble not out 3
S.Sreesanth c Morton b Bravo 2
EXTRAS: (LB-13, NB-2, W-13) 28
Total (all out, 48 overs) 268
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7,2-95,3-126,4-232,5-237,6-255,7-255,8-259, 9-265
BOWLING: Taylor 8-0-45-2, Powell 6-1-39-1 (NB-1, W-6), Emrit 5-0-34-0 (NB-1, W-3), Bravo 9-0-39-4 (W-1), Gayle 10-0-57-2 (W-1), Samuels 10-0-41-1 (W-2)
West Indies
C.H.Gayle lbw b Agarkar 0
D.S.Smith c Dravid b Kumble 33
R.S.Morton c Karthick b Agarkar 1
M.N.Samuels c Karthick b Agarkar 98
B.C.Lara c Uthappa b Powar 83
L.M.P. Simmons c Uthappa b Powar 17
D.J.Bravo c Raina b Sreesanth 4
D.Ramdin not out 4
R.Emrit not out 0
Extras: (B-4, LB-1, W-25) 30
Total (for 7 wkts, 43.4 overs) 270
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0,2-27,3-92,4-219,5-257,6-261,7-265
BOWLING: Agarkar 10-1-45-3 (W-12), Sreesanth 8.4-0-67-1 (W-9), Kumble 10-0-67-1 (W-2), Powar 10-0-53-2 (W-1), Tendulkar 5-0-33-0 (W-1)
Result: West Indies won by three wickets.—Agencies