The Hindu : Sport : India canters home

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 01, 2005

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India canters home

Sanjay Rajan

FIRST STRIKE: Irfan Pathan gave India the breakthrough by claiming the wicket of West Indies' opener Runako Morton. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

DAMBULLA: After the defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the opening game, Rahul Dravid spoke of the need for flexibility in the batting order.

"Flexibility with options, now that (Sachin) Tendulkar, (Sourav) Ganguly and (VV.S) Laxman are unavailable," he said.

The Indian captain also spoke of the younger ones having to put their hands up and be counted.

On Sunday, Suresh Raina, the 18-year-old Uttar Pradesh all-rounder, pulled his weight in what was only his second one-dayer.

Obviously, the team management decided to use M.S. Dhoni down the order as the burly Jharkhand lad had kept wickets for 48 overs. But the move to open the batting with Md. Kaif was a novel one. And Kaif chipped in usefully.

Back-to-back matches can be tough. The Indian team looked jaded, but picked itself up sufficiently to defeat the West Indies by six wickets in the second match of the IndianOil Cup tri-series at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium here.

The target was just 179, but low scoring affairs can get difficult at times. The four-man Caribbean pace attack was aggressive, but wayward. And the catching left a lot to be desired.

Rahul Dravid, who scored a second consecutive half-century in the series, and Yuvraj Singh (28) shifted gears at the right time to help the side secure its first points in the event.

Virender Sehwag failed a second time, caught behind, trying to work Jermaine Lawson down the leg-side.

In walked Raina, who had been dismissed first ball on debut only the previous day. The left-hander began tentatively, was rapped on the pads by Lawson off the very first ball and was dropped with Ricardo Powell at point when he slashed at Lawson two deliveries later.

The new-ball pair of Daren Powell and Lawson breathed fire, letting go the occasional short ball. But Raina and Kaif dug in their heels for a 65-run stand off 62 deliveries.

Tino Best softened up Kaif with a couple of short deliveries, and then had him edge to slip playing tentatively outside the off-stump.

The Barbadian nearly had Raina next, edging a yorker behind, but 'keeper Denesh Ramdin, who was making his debut, dropped a regulation catch.

Later, Best brought one back into Dravid viciously. The Indian captain got onto his toes and dropped the ball dead with a defensive blade. Best uttered something. Dravid didn't respond, even as non-striker Yuvraj turned to look at the Barbadian.

Man of the match

Dravid, adjudged Man of the Match, allowed his willow to do the talking, cracking three consecutive boundaries off Best as the fourth-wicket pair moved on cruise mode, the partnership producing 61 runs off 100 deliveries.

Lawson beat Yuvraj by sheer pace, and nearly had new-man Dhoni first ball when the latter flicked. But Dwayne Smith dropped the straightforward chance at square leg. The undefeated fifth wicket pair raced to the target with a 37-run stand - Dhoni scoring the winning the runs with a hooked six off Lawson.

It was contributions down the order which had won the day for India.

Earlier, India did not make any changes - Laxman was still dogged by the back spasm - while West Indies capped left-hander Narsingh Deonaraine and Ramdin.

Shiv Chanderpaul won the toss, only the brittle top-order collapsed. Two cloud bursts, the first at the start of the innings and the other 10 overs later, freshened up the pitch, and the West Indies found the Indian new-ball pair of left-armers Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan too hot to handle.

Harbhajan took full advantage of the bounce the pitch offered. The off-spinner, playing in his 100th ODI, derived prodigious turn and the young Caribbean line-up hand no answers.

Deonarine batted with tremendous application, and along with his Guyana team-mate Chanderpaul, put on 52 for the fourth wicket.

Deonarine stitched up another useful partnership of 31 with Ramdin for the seventh wicket, while the latter took the total to 172 in the company of Best, when left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra struck in succession to dimiss Ramdin and Daren Powell.

But the tail had wagged. India needs to tighten up here.

Sri Lanka plays West Indies on Tuesday.

MRI scan for Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya underwent an MRI scan on his right shoulder at Colombo on Sunday. The southpaw, who guided Sri Lanka to a three-victory over India in the tri-series opener at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on Saturday, had suffered the injury while fielding earlier in the afternoon.

It is unlikely that Jayasuriya will take further part in the series. However, an official communiqué is expected only on Monday.

Jayasuriya had, in fact, risked further damage to his shoulder by deciding to bat. But his side was in dire straits at 104 for four, while chasing 206 for victory, and there was no way that the Marauder from Matara was not going to have a go.

"My team needed me. So I had a few pain-killers and batted," said the 36-year-old after scoring the match-winning, undefeated 43.

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