Sehwag won the toss and fielded, as he thought there will be dew after 0500 PM. Patel will open the innings with Sehwag and the spin dept will be handled by Jadeja and Ashwin and pace by Aaron, Yadav and V Kumar. WI brought back all rounders Pollard and Andre Russel and rested Rampaul.
In 21.2 overs, WI are 88/3. The Indian pace attack struck, with V Kumar, Aaron and U Yadav taking one wicket each. Yadav bowled exceptionally well, bowling consistently around 147 kph.
Hyatt had lofted Jadeja for a six and WI are 96/3.
Pollard is gone, lofting one Ashwin delivery into the hands of Kohli. Ashwin strikes !
Darren Bravo played magnificently for his 60, till he was clean bowled by Raina !
In the 5th over, an outswinger from V Kumar accounted for Barath (17). In the 6th over, Samuels hit Yadav for two fours.In the 7th over, Simmons hit V Kumar for a six and a four, plundering 13 runs in that over.
In the 9th over, Aaron clean bowled Samuels (10). In the 10th over, Yadav clean bowled Simmons.
In the 27th over, Hyatt is unfortunately run out. WI 127/4. In the 33rd over, six runs were amassed and WI reach 150.
Now the score is 173/7. Jadeja clean bowls Sammy for a duck and all Indian bowlers become successful.
Wi are all out for 211. Indian bowling has been very impressive, says Gavaskar.
The Cuttack stadium was full. Shastri opined that there were thousands of motorbikes that it will be difficult for the owners to identify their bikes ! Jampacked stadium to watch No 2 team in action !
In reply, India are 41/2, losing both left handers, Patel and Gambhir to one Kemar Roach over.
India now are 201/9, with only Aaron and Yadav left. 11 more runs are needed with only these two inexperienced players left. Seems to be a cliff hanger.
Aaron hits a four and Yadav hits a four and India has won by one wicket ! Normally India do not win close games, but this was a fantastic game !
There is no excuse for not scoring: Sehwag
Sehwag was equivocal about the the efforts of the lower-order batsmen for pulling off a thrilling win over the West Indies in the first one-dayer here on Cuttack, but averred that there was no excuse for the top order's lack of application, including himself !
India's complacency was evident as she stumbled to 59/5. But Rohit Sharma's 72 and resolute showings by Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav gave India the much needed victory.
"In India you hardly see the team tottering at 59/5. Our batsmen made mistakes. Hope we will come up with strong batting performance in next games," Sehwag said. "We have to learn from our mistakes. There were two good balls. The ball came in and we (myself and Virat Kohli) played early and made mistakes"
The way Raina, Gambhir and Patel got out confounded many an analyst.
"There were three soft dismissals of Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina. We have to bat really well in coming games. There is no excuse for anybody to not scoring runs."
Sehwag said India will put up a better show in the remaining ODIs.
"We have to back our batting. We have some exciting youngsters playing for last three four years. But I am happy with bowling and fielding."
He praised Rohit for his heroic, character innings.
"Rohit is one of the talented batsmen. He is improving match by match. He is proving himself. He is one of the best. A win is a win. It does not matter by one wicket or 10, it was important that we started well. We are 1-0 up. Full credit to Rohit Sharma, Jadeja and Vinay Kumar. They built on partnerships. One by one they did it for us."
About his decision to field first, he said "My decision was absolutely right. You were chasing 212 after all. When you lose five quick wickets, it's difficult to come back. I praise Rohit Sharma and Jadeja as their partnership took us there.
After that Vinay and Rohit had a good partnerships. It's not easy when you lose five six wickets. The way Rohit, Jadeja and Vinay batted it was great to see that."
He praised the team's resilience.
"We just stay cool and calm. That's the quality of Indian dressing room. We believe that we can win from any situation."
About the massive crowd turnout, he said "It feels great when people come to watch a game. People come and support us. It was a good game at the end of the day. Nobody expected Windies would make only 211 and then we will be five down so early and win the game in this exciting way.
"We hope people will come and support us in the next matches. It was much important to start off on a winning note.
"We want to become No. 1 and for that we have to win the series. Our process is going on we have to concentrate on it."
Talking about the pitch, he said, "It was a good track. We were expecting them to score 270-280 but our bowlers did well."
Matches in smaller towns is a good idea. "I love to play in smaller towns. People give so much respect and love. They bring all kinds of food and stuff to you to make sure you are happy."
Comments