43.5 overs India 187 for 3 (Mongia 74, Ganguly 41) beat West Indies 186 (Hooper 86*, Sarwan 44, Yohannan 3 for 33) by seven wickets
scorecard

India cruised to an emphatic seven-wicket victory over West Indies in the Barbados one-dayer, making light work of a meagre target of 187. The bowlers did the damage early on, with Tinu Yohannan outstanding on his first appearance of the tour, and the batsmen saw it home with time, and 31 balls, to spare.

India were never seriously threatened during the run chase, and once Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly got them off to a solid start, that elusive first victory in Bridgetown was always on the cards. Sehwag showed plenty of aggressive intent during his 21, but gave it away when he scooped a Mervyn Dillon delivery straight to Ramnaresh Sarwan at cover (41 for 1).

Dinesh Mongia walked in and started off with an imperious pull for four off Corey Collymore. He and Ganguly played the percentage game perfectly, nudging the singles and punishing the loose deliveries. Mongia played some superb strokes through midwicket while Ganguly was at his fluent best through the offside.

They took the score to 109 before Ganguly smashed a flighted delivery from Chris Gayle straight to Carl Hooper at cover. He made 41, but his departure only saw Mongia and Sachin Tendulkar up the tempo against the part-time bowlers. Mongia played quite beautifully for his 74 - benefiting from the one reprieve when Dillon failed to latch on to a lofted drive off Hooper - but he fell with 21 still needed, a tame loft straight to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-off to give Ryan Hinds a consolation wicket. Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar then ended it with a flurry of boundaries as West Indies threw in the white cloth.

Earlier in the day, Hooper had carried on where he left off in the Test series, but he was badly let down by his compatriots. He was unconquered on 76, though apart from a tremendous 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ramnaresh Sarwan, he got no support from a batting order that had no answers to a disciplined Indian bowling effort.

For India, Yohannan was the undoubted star, picking up 3 for 33, while Ajit Agarkar came back well at the end to pick up three cheap wickets.

India started the better after Sourav Ganguly won the toss, as Yohannan and Zaheer Kahn bowled a tight line and length. Gayle and Wavell Hinds put together 38 but were never going at better than walking pace. The frustration eventually got to them, and Hinds was the first to go, inside-edging Yohannan onto his stumps for 15 (38 for 1). Gayle followed soon after, flicking Yohannan casually to Mongia at square leg (45 for 2).

Brian Lara looked singularly uncomfortable and his innings of five ended when he gave Harbhajan Singh an impetuous charge, slogging the ball to midwicket where Mohammed Kaif dived forward to take an excellent catch (53 for 3). A moment later, the rains came down, sending the players off for 20 minutes and reducing the match to 49 overs a side.

When they came back out, Sarwan and Hooper batted quite beautifully. Sarwan preyed on Agarkar, flicking him with great elegance through the legside for fours, while Hooper started with a nonchalant sweep for six off Harbhajan.

They also picked off the singles with ease as the run rate mounted. Ganguly brought himself and Mongia on, but Hooper cut and drive them to distraction. An imperious six over midwicket off Ganguly had the crowd on their feet as the partnership went past 50.

Sarwan had batted with some panache for his 44 when Sehwag struck the crucial blow. The ball slanted across Sarwan and crashed into his leg bail off the pad (140 for 4).

Thereafter, it was something of a procession. A superb piece of fielding sent Chanderpaul packing for just six. Hooper cut one from Sehwag in the direction of point and set off for the run. Chanderpaul was always going to struggle and he pulled up well short even as Tendulkar knocked out the middle stump with unerring accuracy (155 for 5).

Sehwag then had Ryan Hinds stumped going for an ugly heave across the line, before Ridley Jacobs was given out caught behind off Yohannan, even though the sound that made up Eddie Nichols' mind came from bat striking boot. Hooper soldiered on, picking off Sehwag for two fours in an over before Agarkar came back for the final burst. Dillon and Cameron Cuffy were comprehensively bowled, while Collymore was trapped plumb in front by a yorker.

In the final analysis, Hooper could only watch with resignation as India cantered to victory. The bowlers laid the platform early on and Ganguly rarely missed a trick thereafter. Mongia and company then sealed the deal, with some degree of comfort. A job well done, and India could now look ahead to Trinidad and their favourite hunting ground.

Teams
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Ryan Hinds, 8. Ridley Jacobs (wk), 9 Mervyn Dillon, 10 Corey Collymore and 11 Cameron Cuffy.

India 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Virender Sehwag, 5 Dinesh Mongia, 6 Mohammed Kaif, 7 Yuvraj Singh, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan and 11 Tinu Yohannan.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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