India wins a listless encounter

By Vijay Lokapally

BULAWAYO, JUNE 30. This was a game which died in the first 15 overs with India establishing its dominance in a telling manner through a set of bowlers who earned credit when given the break to prove themselves.

It was too much to expect the West Indies to create excitement at the Queen's Sports Club. But then it was also shocking to see Carl Hooper's team surrender without a semblance of a fight in its second match of the triangular series. For India, it was the third win in as many matches.

The spectators failed to get their money's worth. They had not come to watch the bowlers fire the batsmen out but that is what they saw as the West Indian batting collapsed in a humiliating heap and India reached the target with six wickets to spare with Sachin Tendulkar guiding the chase adroitly.

The new-look Indian attack called the tune from the start itself as the trio of Debasis Mohanty, Harvinder Singh and Zaheer Khan sliced through the top half of the opposition with some accurate bowling, claiming all the seven wickets. It was a heartening development in the Indian camp, especially after the success achieved by Harvinder and Mohanty, who last bowled for India more than two seasons ago.

With a target of just 170, the Indians did not have to raise their game. But then they did not have to indulge in casual play either. And Sachin Tendulkar saw to it there was no messing up of the well-planned chase, which did receive a jolt when Sourav Ganguly was ruled out off the thigh pad.

Dinesh Mongia was guilty of playing a loose drive while Rahul Dravid was foxed by leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo. The Indian camp could breathe easily because Tendulkar played a superbly controlled innings which had class written all over. He paced his innings like a champion and exploded with a couple of lofted straight drives off Reon King in the afternoon.

There could not have been a better demonstration of committed batsmanship as Tendulkar sacrificed his natural style, grafted and adapted to the demands of the slow pitch to produce yet another match-winning knock. The `man of the match' award was his but it was not among the best of his innings. It was effective but lacked the sensational strokeplay associated with Tendulkar.

Tendulkar was adequately supported by the immensely- gifted Hemang Badani, who did not mind playing under the shadows of his illustrious partner. When the left-hander tried to be ambitious, he paid the price for an ugly pull.

If India could talk of gains from this match it was in the manner in which Harvinder and Mohanty grabbed the opportunity offered by the team management by resting Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar.

Ganguly, who got a poor decision when batting well in the afternoon, gave his bowlers the first use of the pitch which was slow. Driving the ball was a hazardous task but the West Indian batting lacked the character to adapt and make a fight of it.

The decline in the West Indian ranks has been steady for quite some time now and it was so evident this morning when Mohanty and Harvinder played havoc with the opposition. The team management must have been pleased with the way Harvinder and Mohanty found their rhythm early and rarely allowed the batsmen the liberty to take runs off them.

The West Indians showed poor resilience when dealing with a situation which worsened because of their unprofessional attitude. When caution had to be exercised the batsmen tried whipping the ball around and it was indeed a pity that the West Indians failed to make amends from repeated blunders.

Mohanty and Harvinder were obviously excited with the prospect of making an impression in this comeback match and they did not let the team management down. Bowling sensibly and within their limitations, they exploited the conditions aptly and exposed the brittleness in the West Indian batting line-up with a disciplined line.

Barring Ridley Jacobs and Marlon Samuels, there was none with the grit to take the Indians on. The slide began with the strike by Harvinder in the second over when he trapped Chris Gayle plumb. Darren Ganga fell to a beauty from Mohanty, the ball squaring him up as the intended on-drive ended in a catch at covers. Having earned the breakthroughs, Ganguly now tightened his grip.

Wavell Hinds made the mistake of driving on the rise and presented a sitter at covers and Shivnarine Chanderpaul drove lazily to get an edge. It now depended on how Hooper would deal with the bowlers. He hung on for a good while but could not make any impact. He left to a timid stroke and West Indies was reduced to a pitiable state.

But for the 72-run stand between Jacobs and Samuels, the West Indian innings would have been an embarrassment. The pair managed to play a few aggressive strokes off Reetinder Singh Sodhi, who was once clouted for a six by Jacobs.

The Indian skipper rotated the bowlers intelligently and the bowlers responded by bowling tight in the end overs, conceding just 47 runs in the last 10 overs. His handling of Mohanty spoke of his reading of the situation as he allowed the Orissa seamer the best use of the new ball. For the death overs, Ganguly pressed in Zaheer, who responded with some splendid yorkers to keep the batsmen guessing.

Ganguly maintained the pressure on the West Indians by choking them for singles until the half-way stage. At the end of 25 overs, the West Indians had scored just 47 runs. The trend of the match was pretty obvious at this point. It was bowlers' day at the Queen's Sports Club.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES

Darren Ganga c Sodhi b Mohanty               2
(6b)
Chris Gayle lbw b Harvinder                  0
(5b)
Wavell Hinds c Sodhi b Mohanty               9
(34b)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Dighe b Harvinder   10
(30b, 1x4)
Carl Hooper c Ganguly b Zaheer               14
(46b, 1x4)
Marlon Samuels c Harvinder b Mohanty         44
(75b, 5x4)
Ridley Jacobs (not out)                      53
(76b, 1x4, 1x6)
Mahendra Nagamootoo c & b Zaheer             17
(25b, 1x4)
Mervyn Dillon (not out)                       5
(7b)
Extras (lb-8, nb-4, w-3)                     15
                                            ---
Total (for seven wkts in 50 overs)          169
                                            ---

Fall  of  wickets: 1-2 (Gayle), 2-2 (Ganga), 3-18  (Hinds),  4-26 
(Chanderpaul),    5-47   (Hooper),   6-119    (Samuels),    7-156 
(Nagamootoo).

India  bowling: Debasis Mohanty 10-1-18-3 (w-2), Harvinder  Singh 
10-3-25-2  (nb-2), Zaheer Khan 10-2-27-2, Reetinder  Singh  Sodhi 
10-0-38-0  (nb-1, w-1), Virender Sehwag 8-0-39-0  (nb-1),  Sachin 
Tendulkar 2-0-14-0.

INDIA

Sachin Tendulkar (not out)                   81
(110b, 8x4)
Sourav Ganguly c Jacobs b Cuffy              20
(51b, 3x4)
Dinesh Mongia c Jacobs b Samuels              8
(23b, 1x4)
Rahul Dravid st Jacobs b Nagamootoo           4
(5b) 

Hemang Badani c & b Dillon                   27
(59b, 2x4)
Virender Sehwag (not out)                    11
(16b, 1x4)
Extras (lb-6, nb-1, w-12)                    19
                                            ---
Total (for four wkts. in 43.5 overs)        170
                                            ---

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Ganguly), 2-58 (Mongia), 3-63 (Dravid), 4-
137 (Badani).

West  Indies bowling: Cameroon Cuffy 10-3-20-1 (w-2),  Reon  King 
7.5-1-39-0  (w-1),  Mervyn Dillon 10-1-28-1 (nb-1,  w-3),  Wavell 
Hinds  4-0-12-1 (w-3), Mahendra Nagamootoo 9-0-48-1  (w-3),  Carl 
Hooper 3-0- 17-0.

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