India turn it around after twists

If India batted badly, the West Indians commited harakiri. The difference, however, was India’s bowling and when they batted, it was Dinesh Kaarthick (63) who kept one end going with Agarkar (40) and the tail. India’s face-saving total of 189, courtesy Kaarthick and Agarkar, really saved them the blushes.

But the oh-so attitude of this West Indian outfit really let them down again. Their batsmen played the wrong shots at the wrong time, hoping to hang on by the thread of determination by one man.

All this while, Indians were just waiting for something to happen, and when the slower bowlers got the ball to land in the rough, getting the ball to turn, the tentativeness of the visitors became apparent. It was time for the Indians to go for the kill. Tendulkar looked just as menacing as Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar; Ganguly seemed as agile as substitute Suresh Raina in the outfield, and Zaheer and Agarkar economical. Dew wasn’t a concern but lack of sufficient total was.

It’s always difficult to chase a low score. What looked like a reasonably easy chase at 3.78 runs per over, started creeping up by their own batting habits and Dravid did the right thing by applying pressure each time when Harbhajan and Ramesh Powar came in to bowl, putting in an extra man at bat-pad right through for his two main spinners.

Harbhajan was at his best, keeping the batsmen guessing. But the burly man Powar, who got smacked for three sixes, took three important wickets. Powar showed he can co-exist with Harbhjan, bowling a lot slower and giving loop to his deliveries. He got Bravo, Morton and Ramdin.

West indies made a tactical blunder in the chase. After the early loss of their skipper Chris Gayle, they went into a shell and decided to keep wickets in hand rather than making the most of the power-play. One drop, Devon Smith took a bit long in settling down scoring 14 runs from 46 balls and in the process letting the momentum slip away.

When Bravo entered the crease, the spinners were already on and he made a decent contribution to the total, apart from Devon Smith who looked in tearing hurry to finish things and got out just as when Windies looked like wrapping it up.

Earlier, India made a hash of things after wining the toss. The West Indian bowling attack, Darren Powell in particular, sent down more off-cutters and slower ones on a wicket with varied bounce to return with best figures. It had its bearings and cramped the Indian batsmen for space. Gambhir was the first to go caught down the leg-side and soon the crowd favourite Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar trooped in and out soon after. It was left to young Kaarthick and veteran Agarkar to take India to a decent 189.

With India taking 2-0 lead in the four-match series, the selectors are thinking of resting Zaheer Khan and Sachin Tendulkar and instead bring in Anil Kumble for the Chennai and Vadodara ties.

Dinesh Kaarthick

Dinesh Kaarthick, of late, has given India a problem that they love to have — a problem of plenty. The swashbuckling innings of 63 of 87 balls, against West Indies at Cuttack on Wednesday was yet another proof of the mature head he possesses. Kaarthick has forced his way into the star-studded Team India by sheer dint of determination, changing the view-point of team think-tanks through performance and today Team India does not mind fielding two ‘wicketkeepers’ over several other ODI specialists.