At Jamshedpur, November 6, 2002. West Indies won by four wickets. Toss: India. One-day international debut: Jai P. Yadav.

This opening game set a pattern. Batting first, India made 283 but still lost; bottle-throwing halted play for ten minutes with West Indies 13 short of victory; and Sarwan saw them home with an immaculate 83. Agarkar was India's star. Experimentally promoted to No. 3, he plundered 95 off 102 balls before Kaif exploded to 31 in 18 at the end. For West Indies, Hinds made a belligerent 93 having been dropped twice, and Samuels a cultured fifty before becoming Kumble's 300th wicket in one-day internationals. The players were called off the field after Harbhajan had conceded 17 in the 47th over. TV commentators announced that referee Mike Procter had awarded the game to West Indies under Duckworth/Lewis but, when the crowd calmed down, the game resumed and the batsmen stumbled. They needed six off the last over and three off the final ball. But an ice-cool Sarwan hit a full toss from Agarkar for four over extra cover.

Man of the Match: R. R. Sarwan.