Gayle’s 98 send India packing

May 10, 2010 Sports

Windies win by 14 runs to keep title hopes alive By Sean Devers in Barbados

In association with Leisure Inn & Carib Beer

Skipper Chris Gayle staged a one-man fight against the Indian bowlers before being run out in the final over just two short of becoming the first batsman to score two 20/20 International hundreds.

Gayle’s fireworks and lively West Indies short pitched bowling was enough to keep them in the hunt for their first title since the 2004 Champions Trophy success as they won their crucial 20/20 Super Eights World Cup match at the Kensington Oval yesterday by 14 runs.

The destructive Gayle blossomed from a careful start to thump 7 sixes and 5 fours in his entertaining 66-ball innings but Shiv Chanderpaul (23 from 29 balls) who added 80 with Gayle for the first wicket in 12 overs, was the only other batsmen to reach 20 as West Indies reached 169-6 off 20 overs.

India replied with 155-9 as Suresh Raina top scored with 32. Kemar Roach was the best bowler with 2-38 as India, the inaugural champions, were sent packing from the tournament although they have to play Sri Lanka in their final game in St Lucia tomorrow.

West Indies also play tomorrow in St Lucia when they battle Australia for a place in the semi-finals.

After a 30-minute delay due to a damp outfield from overnight rain, Indian won the toss and invited West Indies to bat in a must-win game for both teams.

While India played an unchanged side from the one which lost to Australia here on Friday, the West Indies, who also lost on Friday here to Sri Lanka in their opening Super Eight game, replaced Andre Fletcher with regular Keeper Denesh Ramdin.

As the West Indian openers walked out to bat before a capacity crowd, the atmosphere was simply electric with the ‘Oval’ looking like a huge Carnival party.

While the West Indians easily outnumbered the Indians in a crowd of over 15,000, the large Indian flags, being waved crazily by the cricket-mad Asian supporters, dominated the stands.

The playing of the team’s Anthems by the steel band and the curvaceous dancing girls added to the thrill of the 20/20 circus. Describing the spine-tingling sensation and the expressions on the faces of the expectant spectators when the Anthems were being played is impossible. You had to be here to feel it.

Gayle and Chanderpaul managed just 2 from the first over from off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and when the next over from Zaheer Khan yielded another 2 as Chanderpaul played no shot to 3 deliveries, the Caribbean boys knew they had a fight on their hands.

Gayle smashed Harbhajan for six over square-leg in the 3rd over and the roar from the crowd was deafening.

The pugnacious Jamaican crashed Ashish Nehra for four through mid-off and thumped him to the long-on boundary in the next over, and the crowd went wild.

Chanderpaul was shackled; taking 18 balls for his first 6 runs and Harbhajan (4-0-16-0) troubled both openers with turn and bounce from 3 overs with the new ball which cost 12 runs.

A trademark reverse sweep for four by Chanderpaul off Suresh Raina eased the pressure and took the host to 38 from 7 overs.

Chanderpaul was dropped on 14 at 41-0 in the 8th over as he top-edged a sweep at Yusuf Pathan before Gayle hit Khan into the stands to post the 50 in the next over and Chanderpaul walked across his stumps and clipped Khan to the fine leg boundary.

Gayle, the first person to score a 20/20 International ton, scattered the fans at the long-on boundry area in the 10th over bowled by Pathan as the batsmen changed gear in sweltering heat.

A skier from Gayle off Nehra on 46 at 73-0 in the 12th was floored as Keeper MS Dhoni and Pathan crashed into each other while an edged four brought up Gayle’s 50 from 40 balls.

Chanderpaul’s skied offering off Nehra was taken by Dhoni and the West Indies were 80-1.

Gayle deposited Ravindra Jadeja for a flat six and Daren Sammy cleared the ropes in the same over before a scorching boundary from Gayle off Khan brought up the 100 in the 13th over.

At 114-1 with 5 overs to go and Gayle on 71, the excitement level was sky high. Sammy (19 from 10 balls) was taken at long-off at 119-2 in the 16th and Kieron Pollard disturbed the fans in the back row of the 3Ws stand off his 2nd ball.

Gayle swept Raina into the stands twice in the 17th over as the raucous West Indian supporters forgot their Mexican waves while a six from Pollard off Nehra brought up the 150 in the 18th over. Gayle rushed into the 90s with a gigantic six in the penultimate over off Khan who removed Pollard (17 from 11 balls) at 160-3.

Bravo (1) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) fell to Nehra (4-0-35-3) in the final over while Gayle was run out looking for 2 to keep the strike with 2 balls to go. Denesh Ramdin flicked the last ball for four and a match was on.

Guatum Gambhir and Murali Vijay again looked uncomfortable against the short balls from Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach and Vijay (7) soon pulled Sammy for Pollard to take a wonderful catch diving forward at deep square-leg to leave India on 12-1 in the 4th over.

Raina, who scored a hundred in the first round in St Lucia, joined Gambhir and the batsmen were peppered with short balls.

Gambhir hit Sammy and Roach for boundaries before edging Roach between the Keeper and Sammy at slip for four in the 5th over and the Indian flags were waving.

A ball later it were the West Indians who were dancing as a nasty bouncer from Roach touched Gambhir’s (15) gloves as he fended for dear life and India were 27-2.

Rohit Sharma (5) was given caught by Ramdin off the glove at 38-3 in the 8th over and West Indies were half a length ahead as they galloped for the final stretch.

Indian fought back as Pollard conceded 17 in the 10th over as Raina dispatched an assortment of nonsense for a six and two fours before Gayle removed him for 32 at 80-4 in the 12th.

When Yuvraj Singh (12) drilled left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn to Chanderpaul at short-mid-wicket at 81-5 in the 13th over, India were sinking fast and Kensington Oval was in party mode.

Pathan hit Gayle for consecutive sixes in the 14th over and Dhoni flicked Bravo, who has gone off the boil recently, for four and six in the 15th and once again there was nervous tension around the ground since it is not uncommon for West Indies to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

However, yesterday was not one of those days. Taylor soon ‘bounced’ out Pathan (17) as he hooked a catch to long-leg at 114-6 and with 16 per over required from the last 3 overs, the screaming Indian fans were silenced as West Indies registered a victory despite a brave 18-ball 29 from Dhoni who hit sixes off Roach and Taylor before he was spectacularly run out by a direct hit from Bravo on the long-on boundary at 139-7 in the 19th over.

A nervous penultimate over from Roach included a boundary, a no-ball and 4 consecutive wides before he had Harbhajan (14) leaving India 19 to win from the last over from Bravo.

Only 4 were scored and Nehra was dismissed for a duck and the unadulterated joy at Kensington was a sight to behold.

While India’s discomfort to short pitched bowling aided their demise, it was heartening to see the passion, energy and commitment displayed by the Regional side.

Scores: West Indies

169 for 6 (Gayle 98, Nehra 3-35) beat India 155 for 9 (Raina 32, Roach 2-38) by 14 runs