Once again the famed batting lineups collapse like a pack of card. Except M.S.Doni and R.P.Singh no batsmen showed maturity and patience of staying at the wicket and that cost not only the match but it can also hurt India badly if they will lose the series being 1-0 up after first game. From 82/8 no one has thought that India will post 189 runs target to West Indies but thanks to valiant effort from R.P.Singh despite of being a bowler he showed maturity and stayed at the wickets almost till the end of Indian innings. He and Dhoni put on record partnership for the 9th wicket to give some respectability to the Indian total. M.S.Dhoni was involved in a 101-run stand for the ninth wicket with RP Singh, who chipped in with a valuable 23 runs. It was the fifth instance of a ninth-wicket pair putting on a century-partnership, and it saved India's blushes after they were in danger of being bowled out for under three figures. 189 runs target was always going to be tough or we can say impossible for the Indian bowlers to defend such totals on a flat wicket. In the end West Indies achieve the target with the loss of just two wickets and 89 balls to spare. In the post match conference Dhoni did admitted that his batsmen misread the pitch which cost them match. Now India have to win remaining two matches if they would like to lift the Digicel ODI Cup for the second time in the history. Earlier after winning the toss M.S.Dhoni has no hesitation in electing to bat first, but it was all different story in the 2nd over of Indian inning. The comeback man Ravi Rampaul bowled an exceptional spell to reduce the Indian score to 7/3 in the 2nd over. Then Dhoni and Yuvraj tried to steady the Indian innings and when the pair looks threatening for West Indies, J.Taylor remove dangerous looking Yuvraj Singh (33 runs of 32 balls) to bring West Indies back on track. Ravi Rampual completed his quota of 10 overs with his career best figure of 4 for 37. J.Taylor and D.Bravo also chipped in with three wickets each. M.S.Dhoni top scored for India with 95 runs of 130 balls. Ravi Rampaul was declared Player-of-the-Match. Now India will take on West Indies on 3rd of July and 5th of July at St.Luica. |
