The Hindu : Sport : Sarwan steers West Indies to victory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 25, 2006

Sport

Sport

Sarwan steers West Indies to victory

S. Ram Mahesh

Sehwag's good knock to no avail; yet another game is decided in the last over

Basseterre: West Indies proved Saturday was no fluke. Riding piggyback on `Man of the Match' Ramnaresh Sarwan's controlled, unbeaten 115 in his 100th ODI, the islanders completed a four-wicket win over India to go up 2-1 in the five-match series on Tuesday.

After India's batsmen discovered different ways to shoot themselves in the foot, the right-hander from Guyana clinched a last-over finish, the third in three games, to give the people of St. Kitts reasons enough to celebrate the first-ever ODI held at the Warner Park.

``We really had our backs to the wall through the game," said Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, who had a forgettable day. "They had wickets in hand. We just wanted to try and stretch it till the end, and hope to get a couple of good overs in and put pressure. We managed that because we were smart, but Sarwan batted brilliantly. He controlled the game and was there till the end."

Agarkar excels again

West Indies didn't get off to the best of starts: it lost Marlon Samuels and Runako Morton, opener and ex-opener, in the first ten overs. Ajit Agarkar again bowled like a dream. He has found a higher gear in his transmission many thought he didn't have. Almost McGrathesque in accuracy at the moment, the man from Mumbai swung it just enough early.

Unfortunately for Agarkar, the two balls that made the most difference to the West Indies chase came off his bowling. The first was a rare bad delivery, it gave Sarwan the width he desired, and the balletic 25-year-old was off.

The second occurred during the 106-run Sarwan-Chanderpaul partnership that Dravid termed the turning point.

Agarkar had been brought back once before and he had responded by getting Gayle to nick a delivery that couldn't have been landed better. This time round, West Indies needed 46 off the last six overs.

Chanderpaul, who had struggled before developing a sore thigh, and had inexplicably begun timing it the moment Morton walked out as runner, was on strike.

The left-hander eased Agarkar over the long-on fence, swinging through one-handed as the stroke neared completion.

The equation reduced to 34 off 30 balls. The pair's experience, engineered by the batting order reshuffle, shone through.

Wretched day

West Indies needed six off the last over. Dravid capped a wretched day when he failed to run Sarwan out off the fourth ball. He had a similar opportunity in the 37th over and had fluffed it. Sarwan closed it with a four.

Where did India lose it? ``I thought we really did well in the first 32-33 overs — Sehwag batted beautifully and had a good partnership with Kaif," said Dravid. ``Those three run-outs — Dhoni, Kaif, and Venu — cost us the game."

Earlier, India lost its way after Sehwag had spectacularly set it on course for what looked like a score of over 300. His 83-ball 96 comprised nine fours and three sixes but the run outs and some inept batting saw the visitors finish with 246 for nine.

Dravid twisted around one from the left-armer's angle, over-balancing in an attempt to hit the ball square on the on-side. Bradshaw wheeled around in appeal to see Asad Rauf's finger beginning to ascend.

Suresh Raina, who walked in next, watched Sehwag hurl himself at one just a smidgeon short from Edwards before unspooling a cover drive off Bradshaw. He stayed long enough to play two more such, but missed one to be bowled off his pads.

Sehwag runs riot

Sehwag, who had put on 61 with Raina, had during the alliance carved an implausible six over point, slapped one on the up through the covers, and brutalised another straight.

Only Edwards troubled Sehwag on instance with pace and bounce. Jerome Taylor was treated with severity. Sehwag seemed to wait an eternity for one just outside off, delaying the release of his wrists to miss gully, point, and third-man on the fence. A guide wide of 'keeper Baugh fetched him his 22nd fifty.

Mohammad Kaif grooved in. Hard-run ones were par, though he timed a short-arm pull and a back-foot cover drive with certain crispness.

Sehwag sent Bravo over the dressing rooms, which overlook wide long-on, and walloped Gayle at the other end to take his tally of sixes to three. Lara enforced Power Play 3, delayed until over 28, and Bravo struck. His impact ball swung into Sehwag's toe before the bat descended. Thus was broken the 110-ball partnership of 112.

Dhoni made two errors — ran off a misfield and failed to accelerate in time — and was run out. Kaif left five runs later, when his dive to make the crease was foiled by his bat bouncing off turf at the worst moment.

The touring side could manage only a paltry 41 from its last 15 overs amidst mad mix-ups and poor batting.

SCOREBOARD

India: V. Sehwag lbw b Bravo 97, R. Dravid lbw b Bradshaw 0, S. Raina b Bradshaw 26, M. Kaif (run out) 61, M.S. Dhoni (run out) 15, V. Rao (run out) 11, I. Pathan c & b Samuels 1, R. Powar b Sarwan 1, A. Agarkar c Lara b Bravo 8, H. Singh (not out) 8, S. Sreesanth (not out) 1; Extras (lb-4, nb-1, w-11) 16. Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs) 245.

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dravid), 2-62 (Raina), 3-174 (Sehwag), 4-210 (Dhoni), 5-215 (Kaif), 6-218 (Pathan), 7-223 (Powar), 8-232 (Rao), 9-242 (Agarkar).

West Indies bowling: Bradshaw 8-2-40-2, Edwards 9-0-49-0, Taylor 4-0-30-0, Samuels 10-0-41-1, Bravo 8-0-45-2, Gayle 10-0-35-0, Sarwan 1-0-1-1.

PP1 (1-10): 61/1; PP2 (11-15): 30/1, PP3 (29-33): 28/1.

West Indies: C. Gayle c Dhoni b Agarkar 40, M. Samuels lbw b Sreesanth 11, R. Morton lbw b Agarkar 0, R. Sarwan (not out) 115, B. Lara c Dravid b Harbhajan 5, S. Chanderpaul lbw b Pathan 58, D. Bravo (run out) 1, C. Baugh (not out) 1; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2, w-9) 17. Total (for six wkts. in 49.5 overs) 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Samuels), 2-31 (Morton), 3-116 (Gayle), 4-131 (Lara), 5-237 (Chanderpaul), 6-241 (Bravo).

India bowling: Pathan 9-0-50-1, Agarkar 10-1-32-2, Sreesanth 9.5-0-57-1, Harbhajan 10-1-33-1, Powar 10-1-59-1, Sehwag 1-0-11-0.

PP1 (1-10): 35/2; PP2 (11-15): 24/0; PP3 (16-20): 29/0.

Man of the Match: Ramnaresh Sarwan