India 339 for 6 (Yuvraj 131, Karthik 67) beat West Indies 319 (Chanderpaul 63) by 20 runs
Yuvraj Singh made up for the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina with an explosive century, allaying fears of weakness in the Indian batting order, and led his team to a hard-fought win in the first one-day international against West Indies in Kingston. His 131 from 102 balls, which contributed to a substantial partnership with Dinesh Karthik, helped India recover from a shaky start to post a match-winning total of 339 on a pitch and outfield which were on the slower side.
West Indies chased manfully but none of their batsmen combined aggression with longevity, a blend that made Yuvraj's innings so devastating, and one that is a necessity while chasing a target of such proportions. Three of their best batsmen - Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul - made fiery starts but fell at inopportune moments, causing the innings to hit a speed breaker when it needed a batsman to bat at full throttle but stay the distance. As a result, India were always marginally ahead of the game, if only by a hair's breadth at times, and even though the lower-order caused India's bowlers and fielders to palpitate, West Indies fell 20 runs short.
25 overs West Indies 151 for 3 (Chanderpaul 17*) need another 189 runs to beat India 339 for 6
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
West Indies made promising progress in their difficult chase, reaching 151 for 3 at the half-way stage, despite the inability of their batsmen to convert quick starts into long and damaging innings, like Yuvraj Singh did for India. Chris Gayle, Runako Morton and Ramnaresh Sarwan made useful contributions but their untimely dismissals left Shivnarine Chanderpaul with a lot to do, as West Indies needed 189 runs off the last 25 overs to win the first ODI against India at Sabina Park.
India's fast bowlers got little movement with the new ball on a slow track and Gayle began in customary fashion, clouting the fourth ball from RP Singh to the midwicket boundary. He did most of the early scoring, pulling again through midwicket, this time of Ashish Nehra, before lofting RP Singh's length deliveries for a four and a six over mid-off. No matter what the target - and 340 is a stiff one - West Indies were always in contention while Gayle was at the crease. That hope, though, was snuffed out when Gayle top-edged a pull from Nehra and was caught by Harbhajan Singh at mid-on for 37.
Morton attempted to fill the void left by Gayle. He had taken six balls to get off the mark and focused on rotating strike but stepped up after his captain's departure. He helped steer West Indies to 70 for 1 after ten overs, lofting the left-arm spin off Ravindra Jadeja over wide long-on for six. He and Sarwan had begun a promising partnership when Morton was given caught down the leg side, for 42, off Yusuf Pathan when the ball appeared to have come off the thigh pad.
West Indies suddenly had one brand new, and another relatively new, batsman at the crease and Sarwan took on the responsibility of maintaining a brisk run-rate. He used his feet superbly to the spinners, getting to the pitch of the ball before smacking Yusuf and Harbhajan over the long-off and long-on boundaries. With Chanderpaul playing a supporting role to Sarwan, who lofted Yuvraj Singh over the straight boundary with a languid drive, West Indies kept abreast with the asking-rate. However, they were jolted on the stroke of half-time when Sarwan was run out while attempting an unnecessary second run. That wicket tilted the balance in India's favour and West Indies will need someone to stay the distance if they are to challenge the target.
50 overs India 339 for 6 (Yuvraj 131, Karthik 67) v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
| 
Yuvraj Singh's brutal 131 helped India to the second-highest total at Sabina Park © AFP
| |
Related Links Player/Officials: Chris Gayle | Dinesh Karthik | Ramnaresh Sarwan | Yuvraj Singh Matches: West Indies v India at Kingston Series/Tournaments: India tour of West Indies Teams: India | West Indies |
Yuvraj Singh, by himself, made up for the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina with an explosive century, allaying fears of weakness in the Indian batting order. His 131 from 102 balls, which included a substantial partnership with Dinesh Karthik, helped India recover from a shaky start to post 339 in the first one-day international against West Indies, on a pitch and outfield which were on the slower side.
A total of such proportions, though, seemed unattainable on evidence of how India batted at the start of their innings. That familiar bugbear of Indian batsmen - the short ball - began to undo the top order once again before the 135-run stand between Yuvraj and Karthik, which had shaky beginnings, gave the innings direction. India's dominance was so untested during the period when Yuvraj was approaching his hundred that West Indies did well to restrict the score to 339, relatively speaking, after India were 253 for 3 in 38.1 overs when Yuvraj was dismissed.
Jerome Taylor was part of the attack that exploited India's ineptness against the rising delivery during the World Twenty20 and he resorted to the approach once again despite the Sabina Park pitch being far slower than the one at Lord's. He hurried the batsmen with pace, beat them with seam movement, and proved extremely hard to score off during his first spell by giving nothing to drive or cut. Unfortunately for West Indies, the pressure Taylor created dissipated because there was none forthcoming from the other end with Lionel Baker, Dwayne Bravo and David Bernard unable to bowl economically.
India started briskly, moving on to 25 in the fifth over, before Taylor unsettled Gautam Gambhir with a 92mph delivery from round the wicket that hurried the left-hander and cramped him for room. Gambhir's attempt to hook was feeble and one hand came off the bat as he top-edged a catch to midwicket. Rohit Sharma fell soon after, pulling a less ferocious ball from Baker to Dwayne Bravo at deep square leg.
The run-rate slowed as Karthik, opening in Sehwag's absence, and Yuvraj attempted to rebuild the innings from 32 for 2. Both struggled early on: Karthik was cut in half by an incutter from Baker while Yuvraj was constantly beaten by short of length deliveries that seamed across him. The moment the ball was full, though, the batsmen took advantage: Karthik drove Dwayne Bravo's first ball to the extra-cover boundary and Yuvraj, despite being beaten several times outside off, was able to put away Baker's full offering to the point fence.
West Indies missed an opportunity to run out Karthik when he was on 34 and the batsmen gradually grew in confidence as the danger in the bowling reduced. Karthik added Twenty20 flavour to the sedate pace of 50-over cricket by reaching his half-century with his own version of the Dilshan - a scoop that carried all the way for six over fine leg - against Bernard. He tried it again, on 67, but this time he was undone by Bernard's subtle change of pace and scooped a catch to the wicketkeeper.
The momentum swung violently towards India in two phases, the first of which was when the spinners came on after the 20th over. Yuvraj attacked Suleimann Benn and Chris Gayle, pulling and slog-sweeping them thrice over the midwicket boundary. India, largely through Yuvraj, who also feasted on Bernard's full deliveries on leg stump, scored 70 runs between overs 20 and 27.
The second period of acceleration was during the batting Powerplay, taken in the 34th over, following a dormant period after Karthik's dismissal. India began the five-over spell on 191 for 3 and Yuvraj set the tone by carving Baker to the cover boundary off the second ball of fielding restrictions. He then proceeded to launch sixes over cover and midwicket to take 16 runs off the over.
Gayle turned to his best bowler, hoping for a repeat performance, but Yuvraj tore into Taylor's second spell, flicking him twice off the pads for four, and hitting him for sixes over cover, midwicket and long-on. MS Dhoni, who had been content with giving Yuvraj strike, also went after Taylor, shoveling a six down the ground. Taylor's two-over spell cost 37 runs and India scored 62 off the Powerplay. Taylor never recovered from the onslaught and bowled a wayward final spell to finish with 1 for 74 after conceding only 16 off his first five overs.
West Indies appeared hapless against Yuvraj until Dwayne Bravo found the edge of his bat as he tried to glance towards fine leg. Bravo raised hopes of a fightback by dismissing Ravindra Jadeja first ball but useful innings from Dhoni, Yusuf Pathan ahd Harbhajan Singh steered India past 300. It was only the second time that the landmark had been overhauled in ODIs in Jamaica, and judging by the excitement from their fans at Sabina Park, the disappointment of India's World Twenty20 exit had been momentarily forgotten.
