India edged past West Indies by seven runs to make it to the finals of the IndianOil Cup
The Bulletin by Rahul Bhatia07-Aug-2005
Scorecard and
ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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India entered the final of the IndianOil Cup after scoring a tense seven-run victory
over West Indies in Colombo. A century by Yuvraj Singh and a well-paced knock
by Mohammad Kaif helped India reach 262 for 4, the tournament¹s highest
score, following which a fatal mixture of mounting run-rate and inexperience
saw the West Indians stumble out of the competition.Denesh Ramdin, let off luckily when he was caught
plumb in front by Anil Kumble off his first ball, fought until the end, striking boundaries and
inventing strokes to throw the bowlers off. Ashish Nehra went at seven an
over, Zaheer Khan narrowly evaded being called off for bowling beamers.
Ramdin ended unbeaten on 74, an admirable knock from a man who had kept
flawlessly in the sweltering heat all afternoon. He followed Runako Morton,
whose controlled 84 kept West Indies in the running until the final stretch,
even while wickets fell all around him. In between there was Dwayne Smith, who
crashed 26 off 12 before Kumble did him in.Ramdin¹s wonderful innings was a fluent one, full of fight, and while he
struggled to comprehend Kumble’s variations, he persisted and dealt
with the more straightforward bowlers with ease. Most batsmen before him
failed to do even this, though their troubles against Kumble were
anticipated. Kumble has a way with newcomers unused to this brand of
legspin; they remain motionless in their crease, trapped by indecision, and
are easily undone by a man who preys on uncertain minds. He dismissed three
of them in a flash, and would have had three more if Daryl Harper saw what he, the fielders, the television, and Hawk-Eye all saw; straightforward decisions were turned down, and this assisted West Indies’ survival. It is debatable whether the match would have run this close otherwise. Against a team more capable of grabbing chances, India could have suffered dearly. In any case, Rahul Dravid bowled Kumble through his quota in one go, and then watched Nehra and Yuvraj leak runs to the tune of 82 in 12 overs.But Yuvraj was India¹s man of the hour earlier, and Kaif his support, when
the team had effectively lost four batsmen and were in trouble. At 51 for 3,
with Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman out, and Sourav Ganguly in
hospital after a short delivery thudded into an unprotected arm, Yuvraj and
Kaif had quite a task ahead. Neither the flow of the game nor their form
favoured them. But bit by bit, they pulled it India’s way with pinched runs
and angled bats that frustrated and deflated West Indies. The slower bowlers
were nudged and pushed for singles and once the time for acceleration came,
the two managed it seemingly without effort. The India of the 1990s had Ajay
Jadeja and Robin Singh to fight fires and twist thrust swords. This team has
these two. They were followed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose daring against
Tino Best’s 140kph deliveries – a sweep, for example – added a touch of
bravado to the Indian innings. The last ten overs yielded 89 runs. But the
first ten had seemed a repeat of India’s most recent experiences in Sri
Lanka: India managed only 24 for 2.But it was the bowlers’ accuracy and persistence that forced Ganguly’s injury and
the general unease early in the innings. They weren’t exactly the fearsome four, the
terrible three or even an ominous one, but Daren Powell, Deighton Butler and
Best put on a fine show to have India hopping and falling about their
crease.Sylvester Joseph, the West Indies stand-in captain after Shivarine
Chanderpaul pulled out due to illness, began with an attack of Powell’s pace
and Butler’s swing. Sehwag and Ganguly both lost control of their feet as
balls swung late and rose awkwardly. Powell, in particular, alternated
between aiming for the stumps and Ganguly’s ribcage. Butler rapped Sehwag’s
pads twice and even bowled him off a no-ball, but was finally lucky with his
third appeal. After a brief stay Laxman nick one, and Dravid played a
loose stroke on to his stumps.India became the second international team to walk off a cricket
field relieved today, but West Indies ran them far closer than they would have liked. The final, two days away, is an opportunity to start afresh.
IndiaVVS Laxman c Ramdin b Powell 7 (21 for 1)
Virender Sehwag lbw Butler 6 (21 for 2)
Rahul Dravid b Banks 10 (51 for 3)
Yuvraj Singh c Best b Deonarine 110 (216 for 4)
West IndiesXavier Marshall lbw Pathan 19 (37 for 1)
Sylvester Joseph c Harbhajan b Pathan 4 (44 for 2)
Narsingh Deonarine c Kumble b Nehra 6 (59 for 3)
Omari Banks lbw Kumble 6 (70 for 4)
Dwayne Smith lbw Kumble 26 (98 for 5)
Ricardo Powell c (sub) Rao b Kumble 4 (112 for 6)
Runako Morton c Dravid b Nehra 84 (195 for 7)
Tino Best b Sehwag 3 (208 for 8)
Deighton Butler run out (Kaif) 9 (240 for 9)
Deighton Butler run out (Kaif) 9 (240 for 9)
