CUTTACK, India, CMC – India withstood a lethal early burst from pacers Kemar Roach and Andre Russell, to sneak home by one wicket with seven balls to spare, in a tense opening One-Day International against West Indies here yesterday.
Chasing 212 for victory at the Barabati Stadium, India plunged to a precarious 59 for five in the 12th over, after Roach (3-46) and Russell(2-29) wiped out the top order to send five wickets tumbling for 22 runs.
However, Rohit Sharma stroked 72 in an 83-run, sixth wicket stand with Ravindra Jadeja who got 38, to stitch up the innings and put India back in the hunt.
Even when Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin (6) fell in quick succession to let West Indies back into the game, Sharma anchored an 42-run, eighth wicket stand with Vinay Kumar (18) to put India on the brink of victory.
Both batsmen perished in consecutive overs to leave India perilously placed at 201 for nine in the 47th over and set up a thrilling finish, but the hosts held their nerve to secure a nerve-wracking win to snatch a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Earlier, West Indies mounted another lacklustre batting effort after they were sent in and could only muster 211 for nine from their 50 overs.
They were struggling at 52 for three in the 10th over before the in-form Darren Bravo hammered a top score of 60 and Danza Hyatt, 31, to pull their side around.
Once they were out, however, the innings fell away and it was left to Russell to blast a cameo 22 to get the Windies past the 200-run mark.
West Indies were in trouble early when opener Adrian Barath (17) nicked seamer Vinay Kumar behind at 18 for one and Lendl Simmons (19) and Marlon Samuels (10) put on 28 before Samuels was bowled by pacer Varun Aaron (2-47) in the ninth over, attempting an attacking shot.
When Simmons played on to fast bowler Umesh Yadav (2-33), chopping at one too close to him, the Windies appeared to be on the brink of collapse.
But Bravo, as he did in the preceding Test series, stepped up to bolster the Windies middle order, adding 75 for the fourth wicket with Hyatt.
He stroked six fours off 74 balls while Hyatt faced 54 balls, striking two fours and a six – a clean hit over long-on off left-arm slow bowler Jadeja.
A bad mix up with Bravo over a second run accounted for Hyatt before Bravo missed a drive at off-spinner Suresh Raina and was bowled at 154 for five in the 35th over.
Wickets then fell steadily and West Indies needed Russell’s 20-ball cameo, which included two fours and a six, to get up to a respectable total.
India got a typically breezy start with captain Virender Sehwag hitting three fours in 20 from 29 balls and Parthiv Patel counting two fours in 12 from 13 balls.
Patel was out softly, cutting Roach to Anthony Martinat point in the fifth over and three balls later, Gautam Gambhir (4) edged a lifting ball through to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin at 41 for two. In his next over, Roach went through Virtat Kohli’s (3) lame defence to hit the top of the batsman’s off-stump before Sehwag was bowled by Russell at 51 for four. With eight runs added, Raina scooped Russell to Bravo at mid-off, to leave India in a tizzy.
Sharma then held the innings together, hitting three fours and a six off 99 balls while Jadeja scored three fours off 62 balls.
When Jadeja slashed medium pacer Kieron Pollard to Simmons at backward point at 142 for six in the 29th over and Ashwin was run out in the 32nd at 159 for seven, West Indies scented victory.
However, Sharma and Kumar consolidated to take the game away from West Indies.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES
L Simmons b Yadav 19
A Barath c wkp Patel b Vinay Kumar 17
M Samuels b Aaron 10
D Bravo b Raina 60
D Hyatt run out 31
K Pollard c Kohli b Ashwin 13
+D Ramdin c & b Yadav 14
*D Sammy b Jadeja 0
A Russell b Aaron 22
K Roach not out 12
A Martin not out 3
Extras (lb4, w6) 10
TOTAL (9 wkts, 50 overs) 211
Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Barath, 4.2 overs), 2-46 (Samuels, 8.1), 3-52 (Simmons, 10), 4-127 (Hyatt, 26.3), 5-154 (Bravo, 34.4), 6-159 (Pollard, 36.5), 7-169 (Sammy, 41.3), 8-183 (Ramdin, 44.2), 9-200 (Russell, 47.4)
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 6-0-27-1, Yadav 8-1-33-2, Aaron 9-0-47-2, Ashwin 10-1-30-1, Jadeja 10-0-42-1, Raina 5-0-20-1, Sharma 2-0-8-0.
INDIA
+P Patel c Martin b Roach 12
*V Sehwag b Russell 20
G Gambhir c wkp Ramdin b Roach 4
V Kohli b Roach 3
R Sharma b Martin 72
S Raina c Bravo b Russell 5
R Jadeja c Simmons b Pollard 38
R Ashwin run out 6
R Vinay Kumar c Roach b Sammy 18
V Aaron not out 6
U Yadav not out 6
Extras (lb3, w16, nb4) 23
TOTAL (9 wkts; 48.3 overs) 209
Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Patel, 4.1 overs), 2-41 (Gambhir, 4.4), 3-47 (Kohli, 6.3), 4-51 (Sehwag, 9.3), 5-59 (Raina, 11.2), 6-142 (Jadeja, 28.3), 7-159 (Ashwin, 31.5), 8-201 (Sharma, 45.2), 9-201 (Vinay Kumar, 46.1).
Bowling: Roach 10-0-46-3, Martin 6-1-35-1, Russell 9-1-29-2, Sammy 8.5-1-40-1, Samuels 10-0-37-0, Pollard 5-0-23-1.
Result: India won by one wicket.
Series: India lead five-match series 1-0.
Man-of-the Match: Rohit Sharma.
Toss: India. Umpires: A Hill, S Tarapore; TV – SRavi.