Indian captain Sourav Ganguly posing with the one-day series trophy after his team defeated the West Indies at Queen's Park Oval yesterday.
- Dellmar
PORT-OF-SPAIN (AP):
HALF centuries from Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and star batsman Sachin Tendulkar were backed up by disciplined bowling as a final-match victory yesterday led the visitors to win the one-day international series against the West Indies 2-1.
India won yesterday's match comfortably by 56 runs in the fifth and final match.
Ganguly hit 56 off 80 balls, and Tendulkar hit a well-paced 65 off 70 balls, as India scored 260 all out off 50 overs. Mervyn Dillon took five for 52 off 10 overs.
The West Indies, set a revised target of 248 off 44 overs after a short rain delay early in its innings, were bowled out for 191.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit a quickfire 51 off 40 deliveries, but it was not enough for the home team. Ajit Agarkar was the best of the visiting bowlers, with three for 33 off eight overs.
"This victory means a lot to all of us," said Ganguly, who was later named Man of the Series. "We have a lot of young boys in the side and its good to get them into a winning feeling."
"We had a disappointing Test series when we were one up and lost 2-1, so it was good to take the one-day series," Ganguly added after collecting the Cable & Wireless Trophy.
The left-handed Ganguly set the tone in the decisive match after he won the toss for the third successive time.
He and fellow opener Virender Sehwag added 43 for the first wicket in nine overs before Dillon made his first breakthrough to claim Sehwag for a run-a-ball 32 that was spiced with six boundaries.
Dinesh Mongia then forged another enterprising partnership with Ganguly, the pair carrying the total past 100 in a stand of 62.
Corey Collymore removed Mongia (28) to a slower ball which the batsman chipped to midwicket.
But Ganguly and Tendulkar, India's most experienced batsmen, joined forces and kept the run rate hovering around the five per over mark as they played with typical assurance.
Ganguly brought up his half century off 73 balls with his fifth four but did not carry on as Dillon again struck at a vital time.
The Indian skipper was caught at midwicket as he tried to pull a short ball over the leg side field.
Tendulkar, later named Man of the Match, anchored the rest of the innings, getting useful contributions from Rahul Dravid (20), Yuvraj Singh (10) and Mohammad Kaif (17).
But when Dillon claimed the little master, bowled off the inside edge, the tourists were 239 for six and the innings faded meekly. The last five wickets fell for just 21 runs.
Dillon removed Ajit Agarkar (3) and Zaheer Khan (4) to aggressive strokes after Yuvraj and Kaif fell to Chris Gayle's flat, fast off-spin.
Gayle eventually finished off the innings with the wicket of Ashish Nehra to end with three for 26 off five overs.
The West Indies' reply was first stalled by a rain delay and then by the early loss of both openers.
The weather forced the players off for 20 minutes at five without loss after 1.5 overs.
By the time the match officials, referee Mike Procter of South Africa and third umpire Billy Doctrove of Dominica, had eventually calculated the new target by complicated Duckworth/Lewis method, the West Indies were in trouble.
Left-handers Wavell Hinds and Gayle were both back in the pavilion when the new target was finally radioed to the two standing umpires and the players on the field.
Hinds (2) chased Nehra and edged to second slip while Saturday's Man of the Match, Gayle (3), was yorked by Zaheer.
Hometown hero Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan rebuilt the innings in a stand of 61 for the third wicket but could not keep up with the required run rate.
Both fell trying to increase the tempo, as did their skipper Carl Hooper.
Sarwan made 32 off 44 balls with a six and a four before he made room to hit over the off side, but was bowled by an off-break from Harbhajan Singh.
Hooper (1) followed three runs later as he miscued a pull off Agarkar and was caught at mid-off.
Another massive crowd was silenced soon afterward when Lara fell for 36, hitting a full toss from Tendulkar straight to deep backward square leg. The 33-year-old was never at his fluent best and faced 69 deliveries and struck just one boundary.
At 88 for five in the 24th over, the Indians were sensing a swift conclusion.
But left-handers Shivnarine Chanderpaul and wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs entertained the fans and kept home hopes alive in a frantic stand of 71 off 55 balls for the sixth wicket.
Chanderpaul notched his half century off 38 balls with a six and four fours, but fell quickly afterwards as Harbhajan claimed the crucial breakthrough. The 27-year-old top-edged a sweep/slog to be caught in the leg side.
SCOREBOARD
India innings
S. Ganguly c Sarwan b Dillon 56
V. Sehwag c Gayle b Dillon 32
D. Mongia c Gayle b Collymore 28
S. Tendulkar b Dillon 65
R. Dravid c Sarwan b Hooper 20
Y. Singh b Gayle 10
M. Kaif b Gayle 17
A. Agarkar c Hooper b Dillon 3
H. Singh not out 5
Z. Khan c Collins b Dillon 4
A. Nehra b Gayle 0
Extras: (lb8, w8, nb4) 20
TOTAL: 260 (all out, 50 overs)
Wickets fell at: 43, 105, 141, 187, 212, 239, 248, 248, 254, 260
Bowling: Mervyn Dillon 10-1-52-5 (w3), Cameron Cuffy 9-0-45-0 (w2), Corey Collymore 8-0-42-1 (nb2), Pedro Collins 10-1-46-0 (nb2, w1), Carl Hooper 8-0-41-1, Chris Gayle 5-0-26-3 (w2)
West Indies innings
C. Gayle b Zaheer 3
W. Hinds c Sehwag b Nehra 2
R. Sarwan b Harbhajan 32
B. Lara c Mongia b Tendulkar 36
C. Hooper c Sehwag b Agarkar 1
S. Chanderpaul c Ganguly b Harbhajan 51
R. Jacobs c Harbhajan b Agarkar 36
M. Dillon run out (Yuvraj) 0
P. Collins b Agarkar 9
C. Collymore not out 0
C. Cuffy c Agarkar b Nehra 7
Extras: (b2, lb3, w9) 14
TOTAL: (all out, 36.2 overs) 191
Wickets fell at: 7, 12, 73, 76, 88, 159, 162, 184, 184, 191
Bowling: A. Nehra 5.2-0-25-2 (w6), Z. Khan 7-1-32-1, A. Agarkar 8-0-33-3 (wides 1), H. Singh 9-0-55-2, V. Sehwag 4-0-21-0, S. Tendulkar 3-0-20-1
NB: West Indies innings had already been docked one over because of their slow over rate before the rain delay.
Result: India won by 56 runs (Duckworth/Lewis method) and take five-Toss: India.
Umpires: Eddie Nicholls (Guyana), Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe)
(Target reduced to 248 off 44 overs by Duckworth/Lewis method after short rain delay at 5/0 off 1.5 overs)
