West Indies opening batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashed a robust century, but failed to stop India from posting a thrilling 14-run win in the first one-day international in Nagpur on Sunday.
The left-hander cracked an unbeaten 149 for his fifth one-day hundred before the West Indies were restricted to 324-8 in reply to India's challenging total of 338-3.
India were indebted to Sourav Ganguly for posting their highest total against the West Indies as the left-handed opener celebrated his comeback with a superb 98.
PHOTO: AFP
The former Indian captain, playing his first one-day international in 16 months, hammered three sixes and 11 fours in his 110-ball knock to help the hosts surpass their previous best total of 325-5 against the West Indies.
The 32-year-old Chanderpaul threatened to ruin Ganguly's day with a gem of an innings, which came off 136 balls with the help of three sixes and 16 fours. He was named man of the match.
India skipper Rahul Dravid insisted that the remaining matches would not all be as high-scoring.
"Nagpur has always been a very good pitch for batting. The last time we played at Cuttack, the pitch was slow and tricky," Dravid said. "Chennai being a day-night game, we'll have to take the dew factor into account. And Baroda usually helps the bowlers early on."
West Indies skipper Brian Lara paid tribute to Ganguly.
"He is a player of high class, and you expect performances like that," Lara said.
The West Indies matched India in the early stages when they raced to 80 in 12 overs, thanks to Chris Gayle who punished the pacemen with a wide range of shots to hit 10 fours in his 46-ball 52.
The run-rate declined after the dismissal of Gayle, caught in the slips by India skipper Rahul Dravid off spinner Harbhajan Singh. The spinner struck again when he bowled Runako Morton to reduce the West Indies to 102-2.
Chanderpaul sustained the West Indies' hopes, but the asking-rate kept climbing and they needed an exact 100 to win in the closing 10 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Lara scored a brisk 31 before falling in a bid to step up the run-rate. India then looked in control despite Chanderpaul's heroics.
India's batting flourished in the morning session, much to the delight of a sizeable crowd. Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir (69) put their team on course for a big total with a 144-run stand for the opening wicket.
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