Close India 200 for 1 in 27.1 overs(Sehwag 114*) beat West Indies 300 for 5 (Sarwan 84) by 81 runs (Duckworth-Lewis target 120)
Scorecard

This series seemed doomed to a fixed pattern – team wins toss, fields, then comfortably chases a huge target, until stone-throwing from the crowd interrupts play. Only this time the interruption was permanent. India, chasing 301, were declared winners after being 201 for 1 in the 28th over, when play was suspended yet again by objects thrown by the crowd at West Indian fielders.

As usual, the hyped security force that was supposed to be watching out for trouble-makers in the crowd were more keen on watching the play – with the result that there was no play for anybody to watch. Virender Sehwag was left unbeaten on 114, an innings that reaffirmed his new status as one of game's most dangerous batsmen. It was a shameful end to a glorious run-chase.

Sourav Ganguly asked West Indies to bat first on another newly-laid track, and then put on a record 196-run opening stand with Sehwag, who destroyed West Indies with a 75-ball hundred.

After a quiet start against Merv Dillon and Vasbert Drakes, Sehwag exploded in the ninth over. A blistering straight-drive off Dillon sent the ball hurtling past the umpire to the sightscreen. Dillon was given more cause to do his staring act in the last ball of the over, when Sehwag moved towards leg to make room for a slash over point that ended in the third-man boundary. Dillon's misery continued, with 40 taken off his 6 overs. His 26 overs so far in this series have cost 6.26 runs each.

Chris Gayle, who had scored a stroke-filled 72 in the morning, replaced Dillon and wished he hadn't. He was brutalised for 18 runs in the only over he bowled, with Sehwag smashing three fours and a six into the crowd beyond mid-on. Sehwag's fifty, off just 38 balls, helped India past hundred in the 14th over.

By the 21st over, Sehwag and Ganguly had demolished the West Indian attack and reduced the original asking rate from six to 4.72. By the time Sehwag quietly picked two singles off Marlon Samuels to reach his third ODI hundred, a predicted close contest had been reduced to a no-contest.

Ridley Jacobs, captaining the side in this match instead of an injured Carl Hooper, brought on Mahendra Nagamootoo to join Cameron Cuffy. Both looked unimpressive, giving away 65 runs in the nine overs they bowled between them. Jacobs was left biting his lower lip and looking increasingly baffled, as the two Indian batsmen began picking singles from a deep-set field. It was too easy.

A change in West Indian strategy produced Ganguly's wicket. Jacobs strengthened the single-saving cordon, and after the last nine balls produced only a single – including a maiden over by Samuels – Ganguly perished trying to clear the in-field. Making room outside his leg stump and trying to hit Drakes over wide mid-off, Ganguly found his lofted drive gobbled by Shivnarine Chanderpaul leaping up in the air to his right. Ganguly made 72 and departed leaving India only 105 more to get in 23 overs. Three balls later, crowd mischief and the D-L method ensured India won the match 81 runs ago.

The morning had promised much for West Indies and this contest. Asked to bat on a track with spots of green and dusty cracks, they amassed 300 with not much fuss and plenty of that patented flair long missing from their game.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul put on a punishing 149-runs for the fourth wicket, to fill the core of the innings, after Gayle had made 72 with 12 fours and two sixes. They carved a mediocre and uninspired Indian bowling at a partnership run-rate of 6.17. Like Gayle, both fell after crossing 70 – within two overs of each other – but at 272 for 5 in the 47th over, when Sarwan nicked a hapless Ashish Nehra to Rahul Dravid, their job was well done. It ensured West Indies made 85 in the last ten overs.

It was not a happy day for Indian bowlers, particularly Nehra, who struggled again with the new ball. Javagal Srinath, after conceding just 24 in his first six overs and scalping Wavell Hinds (10), was ripped for another 20 in 14 balls of his second spell.

Ajit Agarkar went for 49 in his five overs, and JP Yadav, given another chance when he replaced Anil Kumble in the team, didn't do his international career any further good with two overs that cost 14. Ironically, the best bowling effort came from the part-timers, with Ganguly and Sehwag conceding just 59 in the 13 overs they bowled together. Bowlers and a full fifty-over match, it seemed, haven't a hope in this series.

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