Close India 316 and 81 for 2 (Sehwag 33) beat West Indies 167 and 229 (Sarwan 78, W Hinds 61, Harbhajan 4-79) by 8 wickets
Scorecard

Following a script that they have mastered, West Indies lost their last six wickets in the space of 21 runs in the morning session to leave India 81 to win. They then proceeded to bowl loosely and allow India an easy win by eight wickets. At one point during India's chase, a slight drizzle brought the groundsmen to the boundary-ropes, ready with the covers. Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar got out in the process of hitting some lusty blows to finish the match before the rain got worse, but Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid got India there comfortably.

The day began differently, with West Indies battling resiliently in the first hour under floodlights in overcast conditions. Surprisingly, Sourav Ganguly did not give his pacers a couple of overs first thing in the morning. The spinners could not get a breakthrough against some patient batting from Ramnaresh Sarwan and Ryan Hinds, and Ganguly was eventually forced to bring Zaheer Khan on, an hour after the start of play.

Zaheer struck instantly, catching Sarwan plumb in front with a ball that pitched on leg and straightened (208 for 5). Sarwan made 78, and this was the 14th time in his career that he failed to convert a fifty into a century. He walked off with a bemused smile, as fate continued to play its cruel tricks on him – and West Indies.

Enter Bhajji. Harbhajan Singh floated one in nicely from round the wicket, Hinds (7) tried to hoick it over midwicket and only got a leading edge that scooped up to Anil Kumble at extra-cover (210 for 6). Harbhajan then shifted to over the wicket and got his next ball to bounce unexpectedly, and Gareth Breese only managed to fend the ball to Ganguly at backward short leg (210 for 7).

Mervyn Dillon survived the hat-trick ball, but he could not survive Asoka de Silva. Dillon nudged a ball from Harbhajan onto the leg side and was stunned to find de Silva's finger pointing at the sky (214 for 8). Was there an overhead cloud formation he was pointing at? Apparently not.

Then came the double nelson and David Shepherd, an umpire known for his superstition in such matters, watched as Ridley Jacobs, on 3, edged Zaheer to Parthiv Patel, who took a fine diving catch low to his left (222 for 9). Half-a-dozen of his immediate predecessors in the Indian team would have dropped it or not reached there. For Parthiv, it was routine.

Zaheer then castled Jermaine Lawson with a perfect yorker to bring the West Indian innings to an end, but not before a moment of drama that would have worried the Indians more than West Indies' batting. Pedro Collins skied a ball high on the leg side, and Ganguly and Kumble collided badly as they went for the catch.

Ganguly saw Kumble just as they were about to collide and tried to veer out of the way, just as Kumble realized that he had over-run the ball and braked, almost falling backwards, his right leg bisecting Ganguly and smashing him in the groin. Both of them collapsed to the ground, and while Kumble was up and looking sheepish soon enough, Ganguly had to be taken off on a stretcher. News came in later that he had strained his back; but that was the only strain he had.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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