India relied on a clinical all-round display to fashion a comprehensive six-wicket victory over a second-string West Indies in the second match of the Indian Oil Cupat Dambulla today.
After the bowlers bowled a tidy spell to bundle out the Caribbean islanders for a paltry 178 in 47.4 overs, the batsmen never really looked in danger of messing up the run chase as they overhauled the target with 14 overs to spare in what turned out to be a lopsided floodlit encounter.
Captain Rahul Dravid (52 not out) cracked his second successive half century to not only guide his team to victory on a difficult batting track at the RangiriStadium but also garner a bonus point. The young Suresh Raina (35) and Yuvraj Singh (28) were the other notable contributors in the low scoring contest.
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The Indians, who had lost to hosts Sri Lanka in the opening match yesterday, more or less made amends with a moredisciplined performance which was bound to boost their confidence level.
Nothing seemed to go right for West Indies after opting to bat first as the Indian speedsters exploited the overcast conditions to leave the Caribbean batting in complete disarray.
Barring Narsingh Deonarine who scored a gritty 41, none of the West Indies batsmen could hang around for long. Harbhajan Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers with impressive figures of 10-1-24-2 while Ashish Nehra and Virender Sehwag also chipped in with two wickets each.
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Mohammad Kaif (24) and Raina (35) were two batsmen who batted in the top three positions and laid the foundation of a comfortable win after vice-captain Virender Sehwag had departed early.
Sehwag (2) edged a bouncing delivery from Jermaine Lawson for a leg-side catch by wicketkeeperDenesh Ramadin but Kaif and Raina, a rare Uttar Pradesh pair in the middle, put 65 runs from 62 balls to soothe the nerves.
Raina had a providential escape when he cut a catch to gully region where Ricardo Powell put down a straightforward chance.Thereafter, he batted crisply and his two successive flicks over square leg against Darren Powell underlined the reasons why he is so much inthe news.
Kaif fell to a catch in the slips off Tino Best and Raina himself tamely patted a catch at short extra cover butthe Indians by then had already seen off the threat of the new ball.
Kaif batted for 39 balls for his 24 runs and hit five fours while Raina smashed 35 from 42 balls with five fours.
Dravid and Yuvraj (28) then put on 61 runs for the fourth wicket off 100 balls and both batted with supreme felicity.
Dravid was more prone to play his strokes and did it with utmost authority.
Yuvraj also put the horror of Saturday behind him and his trademark booming drive were soon flowing.
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With 36 required to win, Yuvraj played over a straight delivery to be bowled for 28 from 58 balls with three fours.
Earlier, the West Indies lost too many early wickets in the first 15 overs and then the spinners, led by Harbhajan (2 for 24), tied them in knots.
The West Indies were 32 for 3 in the initial overs which included yet another run-out effected by Raina who swooped on a flick from Sylvester Joseph and found the batsman short of his crease when he went for the second run.
Sehwag (2 for 39) and Raina (1 for 23) were more than two irregular bowlers filling the fifth bowler's slot as they tied the West Indian batsmen in knots.
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Shivnaraine Chanderpaul (54) and his Guyanese understudy Narsingh Deonarine strung together 54 runs for the fourth wicket before Raina beat the West Indian captain with a delivery which found him in front of stumps.
From the other end, Powell lasted for just one run before he played outside the line of a Sehwag delivery and was clean bowled.
All-rounder Dwayne Smith (20) opted for attack as the best policy under the circumstances and smashed two sixes and a four from just seven balls before a drifter from Harbhajan had him caught at the wicket.
Sehwag then took out the only thorn in Indian flesh, Deonarine (41) who batted for 91 balls and hit two fours and one six.
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West Indies then pushed towards the 200-run mark through the enterprise of wicketkeeper Ramdin (24) and fast bowlerTino Best (24) who added 32 runs for the eighth wicket off 29 balls.
PTI
