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Dravid, Bangar fashion thrilling
win in fourth ODI

Faisal Shariff

India vs West Indies: 4th ODI Ahmedabad, India

Scorecard Graphical Analysis

What target does one set this Indian team? Inside four days the side chases 300 runs with ease; in four months the same side chases a total of 325 twice, and in both the chases the star batsman Sachin Tendulkar plays no part.

What do you do with a side that chases 325, with 14 balls to spare and five wickets in hand? England skipper Nasser Hussain is not in a club of one anymore. Even Carl Hooper knows that feeling of setting a colossal total and being humbled.

Rahul Dravid's unbeaten hundred that guided India to its second consecutive win of the seven-match series after being two matches down will easily rank as one of his most satisfying knocks. After keeping wickets for fifty overs, he walked out to bat in the sixth over of the innings and stayed put at the crease till India scored the winning runs.

Sanjay Bangar, polled the most boring opening Test batsman, swept the defensive sheen off his bat and blitzed a half-century that saw India coast home with yawning ease towards the end.

The West Indies did little wrong, but still fell short of a special Indian performance. In what seemed like the only consolation possible, match referee Mike Procter awarded the man-of-the-match award to Chris Gayle instead of Rahul Dravid.

Laxman's innings of 66, after a fluid 99 in the Nagpur one-dayer, presented a strong case for his retention in the one-day side for the World Cup next year. A round of applause for Harbhajan Singh, who bowled his 10 overs for 30 runs and claimed the wicket of Shivnaraine Chanderpaul.

In a match that saw 650 runs being scored, Harbhajan's feat was special, especially after the battering he took from the Windies batsmen in the first three games.

It was an extraordinary performance from a team that never ceases to run out of willing heroes.

West Indies innings

Chris Gayle’s second century (140) of the series and Sarwan’s 99 helped the West Indies take full toll of a weak bowling and set India a massive 325 runs to win under lights.

Despite great spells from the specialist spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik, that cost 76 runs off their 20 overs, the seamers gave another shoddy performance, with Ashish Nehra bowling an awful first spell of four overs for 45 runs.

The highest total chased successfully at the Motera by India is 192, against Zimbabwe. The figure 325 was the target India chased successfully against the Englishmen in the NatWest final.

Ganguly chose to chase under lights as skipper Carl Hooper returned to the West Indies side as did left-arm seamer Pedro Collins, for Cameron Cuffy.

Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik got a chance to play, with Anil Kumble rested for the one-dayers, and Sanjay Bangar replaced J P Yadav for the all-rounder’s slot.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly criticized Ajit Agarkar’s exclusion from the side, asking for more space at the Indian venues for the seamers. "With the World Cup so close we don't need so many changes," he argued in his newspaper column.

The Indian opening pair of Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra, fighting the lifeless Motera wicket and the opening pair of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds, struggled.

Nehra failed to hit the right length and undid the hard work by Srinath from the other end. On numerous occasions during the series, Srinath has dried up the runs only for the bowler from the other end to release the pressure valve. Today, he started with a maiden and managed to hold the openers from running away to a screaming start. Nehra though failed to read the pitch and bowled everything between the good length and the short one. Anything pitched up was driven through the line; anything pitched short was pulled or cut to the fence. The ball failed to rise above knee height and the Windies opening pair continued their rich vein of form, racing away to a fifty-run partnership in the seventh over.

Gayle ambushed Nehra in the eighth over, which cost 19 runs, driving him past mid-off, then cutting him for consecutive boundaries to the point fence and striking the fourth delivery for a huge six over extra-cover. Bowling the fifth ball from around the wicket, Nehra managed to restore some sanity to the over. The damage though had been done. The West Indies after eight overs were 65 for no loss.

Gayle inside-edged a delivery from Srinath, which beat keeper Rahul Dravid, to the fine leg fence to bring up his half-century. Hinds joined the party, smashing Srinath for a six and a four before the bowler snapped him, bowling from around the wicket. The West Indies lost their first wicket when Hinds nicked the ball at the wicket. (80-1)

Skipper Ganguly seemed to have prolonged Nehra's spell after his first three overs had cost 30 runs -- his fourth over cost 15 runs -- besides providing the rocket start to the innings. Sanity returned to the proceedings with the introduction of offie Harbhajan Singh to the attack in the tenth over.

Together with left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, Harbhajan decelerated the West Indian scoring rate. Marlon Samuels was run–out when he responded too early for a single and was beaten by Kaif’s throw at mid-off. The visitors had lost two quick wickets inside the 15 overs for 93 runs.

In the ten overs since Harbhajan came into the attack in the 10th over, a mere 25 runs were scored. Harbhajan’s five overs had cost six runs and Kartik made the Windies batsmen really work for their runs. There were no rank bad balls to be hit as the tweakers hit their spots with consistent accuracy.

Defying logic and continuing with the tweakers to build the pressure, Ganguly pulled Harbhajan out of the attack and introduced himself. The over cost 13 runs and Gayle, who was struggling after rocketing to his half-century, awoke.

Sticking to spin, Ganguly continued with Kartik and brought Virender Sehwag into the attack. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Gayle continued to milk the bowling, scoring at six an over, setting the premise for a tall score.

Gayle registered his second century of the series, off 99 balls. The industrious Sarwan reached his third half-century of the series. Gayle brought up the Windies 200 with a powerful six off Yuvraj Singh. The Indian fielders failed to display the standards set over the last one year, with sloppy groundwork and dropped sitters. Bangar dropped a sitter at mid-wicket while Srinath missed another skier in the outfield.

Gayle finally holed out while trying to force another six. Kartik, at long off, swallowed a simple catch off Sehwag as the Windies opener’s 127-ball 140 came to an end. (238-3)

Gayle played a methodical innings, scoring 84 of his runs in front of the wicket with the full face of the bat. After the initial assault, he paced his innings by running the singles and punishing the loose deliveries. His knock had 50 singles, 12 boundaries and four sixes.

The sweep shot failed Shivnaraine Chanderpaul for the first time in the series, when he top-edged Harbhajan to Dinesh Mongia, substituting for Kartik, at backward square-leg, for 3.

Sarwan and skipper Carl Hooper -- struggling with his knee -- stitched together an unbeaten 66-run partnership that saw the Windies score a mammoth 324-4.

Hooper, unable to run quickly between the wickets, made up with his smart placements and deft deflections to third-man and fine-leg. Sarwan failed to register his one-day hundred, and after Richie Richardson, became only the second West Indian to remain unbeaten on 99.

India innings

It was time for an encore as the Indian opening pair of Ganguly and Sehwag walked out to chase the stiff target. Four months ago, India chased the same total in the NatWest final. The West Indies were positive, though not over-confident, well aware of that evening at Lord's when Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh pulled off an unimaginable win.

To chase a 300-plus total, the openers are the key. Sehwag began in typical fashion with a boundary past point. Dillon dug the next one short; the ball darted towards Sehwag’s head. Taking his eyes off the ball, he fended at it and saw it zip off his glove and balloon to Hooper at first slip.

At Lord's, the openers had got the chase off to a screaming start.

VVS Laxman then nicked Pedro Collins to second slip fielder Gayle, who grassed the regulation catch. Ganguly also received a reprieve when Drakes caught him at third man, but stepped on the boundary line while completing the catch. The third umpire confirmed that Drakes's foot touched the line and awarded a six to Ganguly.

Ganguly though didn’t last long, as Collins had him caught by Ridley Jacobs down leg side for 28.

Dravid walked out to the middle with the score reading 45 for 2 and India 280 runs away from the target. India, at that stage, were coasting at six runs an over. What followed was easily one of most clinical and effective one-day batting. There were no cross-bat heaves or wild swings at the bowling. Laxman, with his silken touch, kept rotating the strike while finding the fence as soon as a loose delivery came along.

Dravid, at the other end, did much the same. No bowler was given a chance; the runs came regularly without any sizzling blitz from the batsmen. Skipper Carl Hooper fiddled around with his bowlers and fielders in an attempt to get a breakthrough.

From the seventh over to the 25th over, the duo kept scoring at six an over. It was a rather strange batting display from a side chasing a 300-plus total. The runs kept flowing in, with the batsmen quietly confident about their riposte.

Laxman lost his concentration, probably out of sheer boredom, and was run-out with the score at 148 at the half-way stage. Playing Hooper to mid-on, Laxman took off, without Dravid responding. Substitute fielder Ricardo Powell picked up the ball and threw it to Hooper, with Laxman short of the crease.

Yuvraj scored a-run-a-ball 30; wove a 60-run partnership with Dravid and departed with the asking rate climbing above seven an over. After smashing Dillon for six, he chipped a half volley to Hooper at midwicket, with the score reading 209-4 in the 34th over.

Mohammad Kaif didn’t stay for long, mistiming a pull off Drakes straight to give substitute fielder Powell. Victory seemed to be fading for the Indian team with another 94 runs required and only Sanjay Bangar to follow.

Bangar, who had a terrible day in the field in the afternoon, dropping a simple catch in the outfield and letting slip some simple boundaries, walked out and changed the course of the match back India’s way.

Steering leg-spinner Nagamootoo to the third man fence for four, he got into attack mode with another drive to the point fence. In an innings that embraced fortune and flair in equal measure, he had a thin edge off Drakes and sent him to the point boundary to close in on the imposing Windies total.

Chris Gayle was the next casualty on the list, with a straight six and a deft steer to third man for three. Dravid compounded the over for a boundary down to third-man. Fifteen runs in the over, and for the first time in the innings the asking rate had dropped below six.

Bangar jettisoned caution and swung lustily at the Windies bowlers. He reached his maiden one-day fifty in the 46th over with India having crossed the 300-run mark. Dravid guided the path for an Indian win; Bangar blazed it.

Dravid reached his most-satisfying century off 119 balls; it included 51 singles, 10 twos and 49 dot balls. It was easily one of the finest displays of methodical batting in one-day cricket. The century was punctuated with more effectiveness than boundaries and flair.

"People overrate style too much," he had told rediff.com in an interview. His innings today epitomised consistency and proved that the Indian vice-captain had learnt how to finish games off with increasing consistency. If the England tour was his finest, today’s knock was a reminder to all those lost in the blitzkrieg of the younger generation batsmen.

India won the game by five wickets, with 14 balls to spare. The 97-run partnership between Bangar and Dravid, off 65 balls, once again paraded the reserves of batting riches the Indian team possesses.