West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul plays a shot during their first one-day international cricket match against India in Nagpur yesterday. - reuters
NAGPUR, India (CMC):
India survived a torrid hundred from Man of the Match Shivnarine Chanderpaul to beat West Indies by 14 runs in the first one-day international (ODI) in their pre-World Cup series yesterday.
Sourav Ganguly, on the comeback trail, hammered a fine 98 in pushing the home side to 338 for three off their 50 overs, and West Indies - propelled by Chanderpaul's brilliant fifth ODI century- threatened the target before finishing on 324 for eight.
India will now take a 1-0 lead into the second game of the four-match series on Wednesday in Cuttack.
Chasing a challenging 339 for victory, West Indies started briskly with Chris Gayle blasting a shot-filled half-century in an 80-run opening stand with Chanderpaul at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground.
Gayle hit 52 off 46 balls with 10 boundaries before a two-wicket burst by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh stalled the Caribbean side's flow.
The tall, left-handed Gayle peppered opening bowlers Agit Akarkar and Sreesanth with hefty shots before Harbhajan had him caught at first slip by Rahul Dravid.
Runako Morton was deceived by a doosra and bowled for eight at 102 for two in the 17th over.
Marlon Samuels joined Chanderpaul and stroked 40 before Zaheer Khan bowled him. Samuels hit three fours and one six and the Windies were significantly behind the required run-rate as he departed.
Captain Brian Lara came in and lashed 31 off 23 balls with two fours and two sixes before Tendulkar had him stumped as he charged forward looking for runs.
Wickets then fell steadily as Chanderpaul produced a brave effort near the finish to land the West Indies an unlikely victory.
The 32-year-old Guyanese stroked fours from two of the last three balls of the 47th over bowled by Agarkar, then smashed the first three balls off the 48th over - by Sreesanth - for boundaries.
Chanderpaul pulled the first ball of AgarkarŐs next over - the 49th over of the innings - over mid-wicket for six but the task of scoring 20 runs off the last over proved too much, and India strode to victory to snap a six-game losing streak.
Earlier, the 34-year-old Ganguly had led a plethora of half centuries for India as the home side bludgeoned the West Indies bowling.
The former captain - in his first ODI in 16 months - entertained over 30,000 fans as he celebrated his return after a lengthy career-threatening exile, due to non-selection to the national side that was initiated by a well-publicised row with new coach Greg Chappell.
Gautum Gambhir, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and captain Dravid also smashed half-centuries and off-spinner Gayle was the only bowler to claim wickets for the West Indies.
Gayle picked up two for 51 off his nine overs to lead the West Indies bowling.
INDIA Innings:
G Gambhir c Samuels b Gayle
