KANPUR, India, CMC- India rode on a sparkling century from Skikhar Dhawan to beat West Indies by five wickets in the third and final One Day international (ODI), clinching the three-match series two-one here yesterday.
The Indians ambled to victory with 23 balls to spare after restricting the West Indies to 263 for five at the Green Park Stadium.
Dhawan stole the limelight with an attacking 119 that came off 95 balls, his fifth ODI hundred, while Yuvraj Singh notched up a 74-ball 55 to seal the issue for the home side.
There was briefly some hope for West Indies when Ravi Rampaul dismissed two of India’s top three batsmen early.
Rohit Sharma went for four and Virat Kholi for 19 but a 129 run partnership for the third wicket between Yuvraj and Dhawan set the platform for the easy win.
Earlier, Kieran Powell, Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo struck half-centuries to propel West Indies to a challenging total.
Powell and Samuels shared a 117-run second-wicket partnership which laid the foundation for West Indies after the visitors were put into bat by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Samuels recovered from a shaky start to top score with 71 which included seven fours and a six.
He was more at ease against the spinners, stepping out to launch Ravichandran Ashwin onto the temporary roof in the stands beyond long-on.
Samuels was reprieved on 60 when Kohli put down a chance at first slip, but was bowled soon after by Ashwin.
Powell hit nine fours to reach 70, his second half century of the series, before miscuing a sweep off Ashwin.
Powell and Samuels took the visitors to a strong 164 for 2 but the loss of three quick wickets including Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Bravo nearly squandered the gains.
However, a late flourish between Darren Bravo and Darren Sammy which yielded 67 runs carried West Indies past the 260- run mark.
Bravo scored 51 not out, his third consecutive half-century, while Sammy was unbeaten on 37.
For the hosts, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers with figures of two for 45 from his quota of 10 overs.
Scoreboard
West Indies
J Charles† b Kumar 11
K Powell c
Dhawan b Ashwin 70
M Samuels b Ashwin 71
DM Bravo not out 51
L Simmons c †Dhoni
b Jadeja 13
DJ Bravo* c Ashwin
b Mohammed Shami 4
D Sammy not out 37
Extras (lb 2, w 3, nb 1) 6
Total (5 wickets; 50
overs) 263
Did not bat SP Narine, V Permaul, JO Holder, R Rampaul
Fall of wickets 1-20 (Charles), 2-137 (Powell), 3-168 (Samuels), 4-187 (Simmons), 5-196 (DJ Bravo)
Bowling: Kumar 8-0-42-1,Sharma 7-0-47-0, Shami 10-1-49-1, Ashwin 10-0-45-2, Raina 5-0-29-0, Jadeja 10-0-49-1.
India
R Sharma c DJ Bravo b
Rampaul 4
S Dhawan c & b DJ
Bravo 119
V Kohli c †Charles
b Rampaul 19
Yuvraj Singh c DJ
Bravo b Narine 55
S Raina c †Charles b
DJ Bravo 34
M Dhoni*† not out 23
R Jadeja not out 2
Extras (lb 5, w 4, nb 1) 10
Tota(5 wickets; 46.1
overs) 266
Did not bat R Ashwin, B Kumar, Mohammed Shami, MM Sharma
Fall of wickets 1-29 (RG Sharma), 2-61 (Kohli), 3-190 (Yuvraj Singh), 4-218 (Dhawan), 5-255 (Raina).
Bowling: Rampaul 10-1-55-2, Holder 6-0-47-0, DJ Bravo 10-0-57-2, Narine 10-1-32-1, Sammy 3-0-22-0, Simmons 3-0-17-0, Permaul 4.1-0-31-0.
Series: India won the 3-match series 2-1
Player of the match S Dhawan (India)
Player of the series V Kohli (India)
Umpires AK Chaudhary and RJ Tucker (Australia)
TV umpire VA Kulkarni
Match referee DC Boon (Australia)
Reserve umpire K Bharatan
