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28 March 2024

Dhoni, bowlers shine as India book quarter-final place

Published
By Cricket Correspondent and Agencies

Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a calm unbeaten 45 to guide India to a four-wicket victory over West Indies on Friday which sent the holders into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami (3-35) returned from injury to torment West Indies with three wickets as the Caribbean side were bundled out for 182 after opting to bat first.

West Indies captain Jason Holder (57) hit his second half-century and highest score in one-day internationals to give his team some sort of a total to defend against India, who won their fourth match in a row at the tournament.

India also struggled on a pitch offering plenty of bounce for the tall West Indies fast bowlers and kept losing wickets during the chase before holding their nerve to get over the line with 65 balls to spare.

Dhoni showed why he is known as 'Captain Cool' and top- scored for his side, who were reduced to 107-5 at one stage.

The right-hander added 27 for the sixth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (13) and an unbroken 51 for the seventh with Ravichandran Ashwin (16 not out) to take India home.

Virat Kohli also contributed with a confident 33 off 36 balls and added a crucial 43 for the third wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (14).

Jerome Taylor (2-33) dismissed openers Shikhar Dhawan (nine) and Rohit Sharma (seven) cheaply to boost West Indies' chances of defending the low score.

The Caribbean bowlers were also guilty of bowling 19 wides and three no-balls.

Shami, who missed India's win against the United Arab Emirates with a knee injury on Saturday, put West Indies on the backfoot early by dismissing hard-hitting openers Dwayne Smith (six) and Chris Gayle (21) with the new ball.

Shami and fast bowling partner Umesh Yadav (2-42) started well, bowling fast and short on the WACA pitch, considered the quickest in the world, as India dominated the explosive West Indies batting lineup.

Gayle, who hit the World Cup's highest individual score of 215 against Zimbabwe last week, offered two difficult chances before he pulled Shami straight to Mohit Sharma at deep square leg. He was also guilty of running out Marlon Samuels (2).

With their talisman gone, West Indies were reduced to 35-4 and then 85-7 on the first ball of the 25th over before some resolute batting from the tail saw them through to the 45th over.

Right-arm paceman Shami came back with an older ball to take out former captain Darren Sammy (26) to end a promising 39-run stand for the eighth wicket before Holder added 51 for the ninth with Taylor (11).

Holder hit four boundaries and three sixes before becoming the last man to fall for West Indies off the bowling of Jadeja.

It was one of two wickets for the left-arm spinner to complete another strong bowling display by the two-time champions.

India innings

India maintained their perfect record and top pool A by coasting to a four-wicket win over West Indies on Friday.

Chasing a modest target of 183, India made 185-6 in 39.1 overs with Dhoni unbeaten on 45.

Jadeja goes with Samuels holding onto a skier after a bit of a juggle. Ind 134-6, 29.3 overs.

Ravindra Jadeja c Samuels b Russell 13 (23b 2x4 0x6)

India lose their fifth wicket as Raina is caught behind. Ind 107-5, 22.5 overs.

Suresh Raina c Ramdin b Smith 22 (25b 2x4 0x6)

India lose their decision review with Rahane having to go after being adjudged caught behind after the faintest of nicks. Ind 78-4, 17.5 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane c Ramdin b Roach 14 (34b 2x4 0x6)

Russell strikes a massive blow as Kohli jas a short ball which flies off a top edge to long leg. Ind 63-3, 15 overs.

Virat Kohli c Samuels b Russell 33 (36b 5x4 0x6)

Kohli gets into his strides stroking consecutive boundaries off Taylor. Ind 49-2, 11 overs.

Kohli survives a decision review for a catch behind off Roach and then clips him to midwicket for a boundary. Ind 41-2, 10 overs.

Double strike by Taylor defeating Rohit with a superb delivery which takes an outside edge. Ind 20-2, 7 overs.

Rohit Sharma c Ramdin b Taylor 7 (18b 1x4 0x6)


Rohit gets going driving Holder through the covers for a boundary. Ind 17-1, 6 overs.

Taylor strikes as Dhawan goes edging to Sammy at second slip. Ind 11-1, 4.1 overs.

Shikhar Dhawan c Sammy b Taylor 9 (14b 1x4 0x6)

Dhawan hits the first boundary of the innings in the third over cracking Taylor past backward point. Ind 8-0, 3 overs.

West Indies innings

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami returned from injury to torment the West Indies batsmen with three wickets as India bowled out the Caribbean side for 182 in their World Cup Group B match at the WACA on Friday.

West Indies captain Jason Holder (57) hit his second half-century and highest in one-day internationals to give his team some sort of a total to defend against the holders, who have won all three of their matches so far.

Shami, who missed India's win against the UAE with a knee injury on Saturday, put West Indies on the backfoot early by dismissing hard-hitting openers Dwayne Smith (six) and Chris Gayle (21) with the new ball.

Shami and fast bowling partner Umesh Yadav (2-42) started well, bowling fast and short on the WACA pitch, considered the quickest in the world, as India dominated the explosive West Indies batting lineup.

Gayle, who hit the World Cup's highest individual score of 215 against Zimbabwe last week, offered up two difficult chances before he pulled Shami straight to Mohit Sharma. He was also guilty of running out Marlon Samuels (2).

With their talisman gone, West Indies were reduced to 35-4 and then 85-7 on the first ball of the 25th over before some resolute batting from the tail saw them through to the 45th over.

Right-arm paceman Shami came back with an older ball to take out former captain Darren Sammy (26) to end a promising 39-run stand for the eighth wicket before Holder added 51 for the ninth with Jerome Taylor (11).

Holder hit four boundaries and three sixes before becoming the last man to fall for West Indies off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja.

It was one of two wickets for the left-arm spinner to complete another stronger bowling display by the twice champions, who were also guilty of dropping a number of catches.

Holder is the last man out holing out to Kohli. WI 182, 44.2 overs.

Jason Holder c Kohli b Jadeja 57 (64b 4x4 3x6)

Yadav strikes as Taylor miscues a an attempted pull shot which loops back to the bowler. WI 175-9, 43 overs.

Jerome Taylor c and b Yadav 11 (18b 1x4 0x6)

Holder completes his second ODI half century off 56 balls.

Holder is on fire hammering Ashwin inside out over extra cover for his third six. WI 162-8, 40 overs.

The West Indies captain is turning it on pulling Shami for a boundary and lofting for a straight six off consecutive balls. WI 145-8, 38 overs.

Holder gets going dancing down the track and hammering Jadeja over long-off for a six. WI 134-8, 37 overs.

Shami strikes in the first over of Batting Powerplay as Sammy gets a nick behind. WI 124-8, 35.4 overs.

Darren Sammy c Dhoni b Mohammed Shami 26 (55b 2x4 0x6)

Jadeja strikes with his first ball as Kohli makes no mistake with a skier from Russell. WI 85-7, 24.1 overs.

Andre Russell c Kohli b Jadeja 8 (8b 0x4 1x6)

Russell makes his intentions clear hammering a second-ball six off Mohit while Sammy is dropped by Jadeja. WI 84-6, 23 overs.

Shami takes a good catch to dismiss Carter who top edges Ashwin. WI 71-6, 21.5 overs.

Jonathan Carter c Mohammed Shami b Ashwin 21 (43b 3x4 0x6)

Mohit strikes with a short delivery as Simmons hooks straight to the long leg fielder. WI 67-5, 18.1 overs.

Lendl Simmons c Yadav b Mohit Sharma 9 (22b 0x4 0x6)

Ashwin is swept for a boundary by Carter after the drinks interval. WI 61-4, 16 overs.

Carter gets going cracking Mohit through the covers for a boundary. WI 49-4, 13 overs.

Ramdin goes for a golden duck dragging Yadav onto his stumps. WI 35-4, 9.1 overs.

Denesh Ramdin b Yadav 0 (1b 0x4 0x6)


Gayle finally runs out of luck top edging Shami with Mohit pouching the skier. WI 35-3, 9 overs.

Chris Gayle c Mohit Sharma b Mohammed Shami 21 (27b 2x4 1x6)

Gayle goes berserk riding his luck to hammer Yadav into the crowd at midwicket for the first maximum. WI 28-2, 8 overs.

Gayle fires a shot in anger lofting Yadav down the ground for his first boundary.

Gayle survives as another miscued hit falls short of Mohit but Samuels is run out stranded in the middle attempting a single. WI 15-2, 7.2 overs.

Marlon Samuels run out 2 (7b 0x4 0x6)

Gayle gets life as Yadav fails to latch on to skier at third man. WI 14-1, 7 overs.

Gayle opens his account after facing 11 balls. WI 10-1, 6 overs.

Shami draws first blood having Smith caught behind. WI 8-1, 4.5 overs.

Dwayne Smith c Dhoni b Mohammed Shami 6 (20b 1x4 0x6)

Smith hits the first boundary of the match cracking Shami's third ball past backward point.

West Indies have won the toss and opted to bat first.

Kemar Roach is in for Sulieman Benn while Mohammed Shami returns for India in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Teams

India
: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav

West Indies:
Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, J Carter, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor

Preview

Defending champions India will look to continue their recent success against Chris Gayle when they clash with the West Indies in the World Cup at the WACA ground in Perth on Friday.

The explosive left-hander has not passed 50 in his last 10 one-day innings against India and not hit a century against them since 2006, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men know that does not guarantee another cheap wicket.

Just last week, Gayle hammered a record World Cup score of 215 off 147 balls against Zimbabwe in Canberra, demolishing the bowling attack like only he or South Africa's AB de Villiers can do.

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De Villiers gave Gayle a taste of his own medicine a few days later in Sydney, smashing a glorious unbeaten 162 off 66 balls that drew warm applause even from the awestruck Jamaican.

Dhoni conceded it was tough to have a bowling plan or set fields for batsmen like Gayle and De Villiers.

"If the individual is hitting sixes, you can't have fields for that," the Indian captain said. "There's not much you can do. You certainly can't have a fixed plan for something like that."

India can draw comfort from the unpredictable game of the West Indies, where highs and lows mingle so frequently that is leaves even the most passionate Caribbean supporter exasperated.

In their first three matches of the ongoing World Cup, the West Indies posted 304-7 in losing to Ireland, 310-6 against Pakistan and 372-2 versus Zimbabwe in a grand show of their batting prowess.

But they crashed to 151 in their next game trying to chase South Africa's 408-5 with leg-spinner Imran Tahir returning with five wickets.

In contrast, India have played consistently to record three consecutive wins, including a 76-run defeat of old foes Pakistan and a stunning 130-run win over the mighty South Africans.

A nine-wicket hammering of minnows United Arab Emirates at the WACA ground last week provided Dhoni's team a chance to adjust to the hot weather in Perth and the challenges the hard pitch poses.

With six full points in the bag and matches in hand against the West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe, India will eye the top spot in Pool B to ensure they don't face either of the co-hosts, Australia and New Zealand, in the quarter-finals.

But the West Indies, who have two wins from four games and both Ireland and Pakistan breathing down their necks, must defeat India and the UAE in their last two matches to confirm a knock-out berth.

The West Indies have brought in attacking batsman Johnson Charles to replace the injured Darren Bravo, but former captain Darren Sammy said the key to his side's success lay with the fast bowlers.

"Any fast bowler would be excited to bowl at the WACA as it is one of the quickest wickets in the world," said Sammy, "But India are playing well and our quick bowlers can't just come and blast the batsmen out.

"They have to put the ball in the right areas."

It was on the same wicket that Australia piled up a record World Cup total of 417-6 against hapless Afghanistan on Wednesday, which should encourage both Indian and West Indies batsmen.

Sammy brushed aside injury worries for Gayle, who missed a few training sessions apparently resting a sore back.

"As far as I know, everybody is fit," he said. "We have a full squad to choose from. Gayle's back has been same for the last three years. Still, he continues to win matches for us."

Five match facts:

- This will be the eighth World Cup meeting between these two sides, West Indies need to win this encounter in order for the record to be even between them (India - W4, L3).

- The two teams have met just once before in Perth with that game ending tied as both teams were bowled out for 126 back in 1991; it is the only game between India and West Indies that has ended as a tie.

- Just two Indian players have an average over 50, Virat Kohli (52.17) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (51.41). They are two of just seven players from any nation to play 10+ innings to achieve the feat.

- Chris Gayle has hit 17 sixes in this tournament already; he needs to hit two more to overtake Matthew Hayden (18 in 2007) for most sixes in a World Cup.

- Gayle has hit 22 one-day international centuries - only four players from any nation have scored more.

Squads and officials:

India
(from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Akshar Patel, Bhuvnneshwar Kumar, Ambati Rayadu.

West Indies (from): Jason Holder (capt), Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Johnson Charles, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

Weather forecast: Sunny. Maximum temperature of 31 Celsius.