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Finally at Vijayawada, the trend of the team batting second winning the match was bucked as West Indies ran home easy winners. It was an impressive all-round showing by the men from the Caribbean that saw them script an emphatic 135-run win, one that also gained them the series. While they turned in a dapper performance on the day, the Indian team chose the most inopportune moment to choke and turn the much-hyped final ODI to a complete dud in the afternoon. It was an ending that would have been scarcely imaginable in the morning when the West Indies were reduced to 16 for two in the sixth over of the match. The men dismissed were the dangerous in-form duo of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With this being the case, India were well and truly on top. But then they let the initiative slip, allowing Wavell Hinds and Ramnaresh Sarwan to undertake the repair-work with a well-crafted 116- run third-wicket stand. Hinds was not as dominating as he was during his match-winning innings at Baroda, but the left-handed opener did not let any loose ball go unpunished. His 10th ODI fifty played its part in laying the platform from which Marlon Samuels was to launch his spectacular assault later on. Sarwan too played a fine hand. He seemed in complete control during his innings of 83. It was unfortunate, then, that he fell when yet another hundred seemed to be his for the asking. Samuels, though, was not to be denied on the day. The 21-year-old Jamaican has looked the part of a classy batsman in each of his innings in this series. His performances in the final Test at Kolkata and the ODI series makes one wonder why he was not played in the early part of the series. The innings at Vijayawada was the ideal way to cap off an excellent rubber with the bat for him. The way Samuels took apart the Indian bowlers with genuine cricketing shots was indeed a sight to behold. His maiden century certainly did a lot to deflate the Indian challenge. Faced with his breath-taking assault, not only did the hosts' bowling and fielding go to pieces, but the batting also crumbled. Jermaine Lawson, flown in recently and playing his first ODI of this series, ripped through the Indian top-order to pave the way for the rout. He was helped by at least one excellent catch - the one that Ramnaresh Sarwan at short midwicket took to dismiss Rahul Dravid. After that, the Indians were never really in the game, even though Yuvraj Singh ended up with a valiant half-century. The sorry ending for the Indian team was caused in a way by their over-dependence on their brilliant batting order. Despite possessing bowlers like Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble, the hosts ended up giving close to 300 runs in all but one match. The experience of the trio failed to help them as they - and most of the other bowlers - always seemed short of ideas on the placid surfaces that they encountered. That said, the spinners acquitted themselves well. On Sunday again, it was Sarandeep Singh, who turned out to be the most economical of our bowlers. But the spinners' success apart, we certainly don't have an attack that we can place our trust in. Before I sign off, let me once again praise the West Indies for a victory they fully deserved. The men from the Caribbean were probably inspired by the example that their captain Carl Hooper set by staying on and playing, despite carrying an injury.The tourists gelled as a team and sealed the series with their finest performance of the series. Hats off to them. © CricInfo |
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