A merciless 131 in 102 balls from Yuvraj Singh helped India to a 20-run victory over a battling West Indies in Jamaica on Friday in the first of a four-match series of one-day internationals.
Singh’s powerful hitting helped India amass 339 for six, the second highest one-day international score at Sabina Park, but the determined hosts ran them close to be bowled out for 319 in the 49th over.
Chris Gayle (37) and Runako Morton (42) put on 65 inside 10 overs for the opening stand, before Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and an aggressive Shivnarine Chanderpaul (63) kept West Indies up with the run rate.
PHOTO: AFP
The home team needed 25 to win off the last three overs with two wickets remaining, but Rudra Pratap Singh bowled Sulieman Benn for 7.
Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who had kept the flame burning with a smart 29 off 26 balls, was then caught by Harbhajan Singh off Ashish Nehra.
“It is disappointing to lose of course, but the boys deserve credit for the way they fought to the end,” Gayle said.
PHOTO: AFP
After a disappointing early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in England earlier this month, and missing key batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was pleased with the win.
“The [team] morale has always been there, but it’s always good to win and I guess you could say this gets the disappointment out of the system,” Dhoni said.
Before Friday’s game, only Pakistan had managed to surpass 300 in an one-day international at Sabina Park, against Zimbabwe in the 2007 World Cup.
The West Indies’ total was a second-innings record at the ground, but they faced a mammoth task after Yuvraj Singh’s virtuoso display.
The home side made a decent start to have India 32 for two in the eighth over, but then came a 135-run partnership between Dinesh Karthik (67) and Yuvraj Singh.
After Karthik went, caught behind by Ramdin off David Bernard, Dhoni provided stout support as Yuvraj Singh powered toward his century.
The left-hander, whose ton was his 12th in one-day internationals, punished the West Indies’ top bowler Jerome Taylor, smashing two fours and three sixes for 31 runs off 13 deliveries from the hapless pace man.
After Yuvraj Singh finally went, nicking a Dwayne Bravo delivery to keeper Denesh Ramdini, Dhoni went on to make 41 and Yusuf Pathan chipped in with 40.
“[Yuvraj Singh] took the time to get himself set and as we know, when he gets set he can bat like that. It was a brilliant innings,” Dhoni said.
The second game of the series, also at Sabina Park, is today.
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