West Indies vs India, 4th ODI at Gros Islet, Jul 05 2009, India tour of West Indies

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4th ODI, Gros Islet, July 05, 2009, India tour of West Indies
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(7.3/49 ov) 27/1

No result

Player Of The Series
182 runs
ms-dhoni
Match centre 
Scorecard summary
West Indies 27/1(7.3 overs)
12* (22)
1/17 (4)
0/9 (3.3)

Post-match presentation:

Chris Gayle: "Congratulations to Dhoni and his teams for winning. Looking forward to the Bangladesh series now. There aren't too many positives to come out of this series, given that we lost."

MS Dhoni, the Man of the Series, says: "It's a pleasure to win outside India,. I'm blessed with a good side."

"I think Ishant was concentrating on what he needed to do today rather than what the batsmen were doing today."

"Yuvraj is the backbone of our batting, always taking up the responsibility."

And in keeping with the trend of radical ideas today, Pius Zacharias from the United States has this to say: "How about a total change of the game. Separate units for batting and bowling. 11 specialist batsmen and 11 specialist bowlers.Just like the American Foot Ball."

That's it from me Siddarth Ravindran, thanks for all the mails which made the wait for match news interesting. Only positive about the washed out match was that I got to watch the great Wimbledon final.

1.45pm Update Still no good news though, the outfield is extremely soggy. Doesn't look like they will be a game anytime soon.

Update: The match has been called off. The cut-off time is 3.16pm, and the umpires feel they can't get the outfield ready in time for that.

That of course means India take the title 2-1, their fifth straight ODI series victory.

Anshuman Mistry, another fan from Canada, writes in: "Looking at the positives of the series from an Indian PoV, Karthik and Nehra have done well after being drafted in to the squad .... Dhoni has found some form."

Sean Parekh from India: "India now have the perfect XI for the champions trophy. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Yuvi, Raina, Dhoni, Yusuf, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Ishant, Nehra"

Sibi Joseph from Ireland wants us to spare a thought for Abhishek Nayar: "I am a fan of Abhishek Nayar just because I liked the way he was playing in the IPL. on some occasions, he played a lone hand for Mumbai Indians. but he got two chances to play fro India now, but never got a chance to bat or bowl. now who knows with the return of the likes of Sachin, Raina and Sehwag, will he ever get a chance to prove himself in the international arena again."

1.30pm Still 15 minutes to go for the inspection.

Upi from India writes in with a revolutionary idea: "How about swapping the batting/bowling teams every time the rain break is more than 30 minutes? If there is one rain break then the batting order is A-B-A, if two then A-B-A-B, and so on. Then the teams get to balance the good and the bad of the conditions and uncertainty about targets. And it would be a lot of fun for the fans."

While Ankit Garg also from India says: "I strongly think that this West Indies is a bunch of some highly talented cricketers, but it somehow just doesn't click for them. If these were handed over to Dhoni or even if they were somehow filled with the ' New Zealandian spirit',they would be a tough team to beat."

As for the debate over D/L, Ashish Patel from the US has this to say. "All viewers needs to relax. Cricket is just a sport. Sport should be entertaining not stressing."

1.05pm More support for Duckworth/Lewis from Errol Erskine in the US, who says people should stop moaning about it unless they can come up with a better system.

Singh from Canada: "Hello!!!!???? Am I the only that knows cricket is never fair! Eg Pitches change all the time throughout matches from nippy to flat."

12.55pm Update And the news isn't good, no play for at least another hour, when there will be an inspection.

Chiru from the US shares what he calls 'his wisest decision ever'. "I was originally planning to fly to St. Lucia, over what is a long weekend here in the US, for the last two ODI's and somewhere down the line decided to go for the World T20 happening in WI next year instead."

Bhargav from the US feels we shouldn't be too harsh on Duckworth and Lewis: "I feel, the D/L cannot really innovate itself beyond a point...It may be tough for the players..but i think players/fans together can enjoy the unexpected changes, as a variation rather than irritation...I do not think it always favors the chasing team"

12.45pm Update The umpires are scheduled to inspect the conditions around now, we'll get you the update as soon as we can.

As for the team composition of the West Indies, the wonderfully named Riddymon from Bermuda says: " I believe the inconsistency in performance by the Windies has forced selectors to contactly look for the "winning combination" which has eluded them up to now. Having said that, I believe Sammy (or even Simmons, my personal up and coming fave) should have been in the squad. Kudos to Morton as well for a steady performance this series."

Ananth Narayanan from the United States has a suggestion: "At what point do we say there's been enough Twenty20's? If rain affected games can be reduced to a 20-over affair, what's the difference between an ODI and a T20? At some point, ICC's going to have to distinguish by stipulating a minimum number of overs in a completed ODI to be higher than 20 overs. At least 30, hopefully 35 ideally. Proper scheduling practices have to be followed to ensure that only a minimum amount of games are affected by weather. But then again, being a realist, I know its all about the money. This is never going to happen. "

And Ron Saywack from Canada has something to say to Chris Gayle: "When will this chap Chris Gayle realize that he will be vastly more helpful to WI cricket by batting, say, at number 3, for example?

His flamboyant, flash-and-dash style makes him extremely vulnerable to premature dismissals, as we have clearly seen in recent times.

Surely, if he gets settled at the number one spot he can destroy any world attack, but that's leaving waaay too much to chance!

Get smart, big fella!"

Gopi writes in all the way from that cricketing heartland, Colombia: "Well at the end of it, i would like to see the maximum number of overs played in a way it is most fair to both teams. For me, the joy of cricket is derived only a bit from winning, majority comes from the short spells of brilliance displayed, the attack of the bowler, and the response of the batsmen. Just converting a ODI to T20 at the hint of a rain would be highly unfortunate to a cricket fan who expects 100 overs and gets 40 instead - no thank you sir."

12.35pm the mails are pouring in, Brian from West Indies says: "D/L doesnt take into account how many times the overs were reduced in the first innings. The batsmen would have had to altered their approach 3 times in the last game. Either the system takes it into consideration or if the rain falls again the match should be called off totally."

Ayush is among the many writing in seconding (the Canadian) Brian, and he throws in an interesting analogy as well. "Agree with Brian on the thrill of watching longer matches. Its like returning to reading the Godfather after a summer of Archies...

But the changing targets are almost invariably unfair to one team, and therefore make the match a bit of a lottery."

12.30pm Update: It's not raining anymore in St Lucia, the covers are still on, and the outfield is soggy but there aren't too any puddles.

12.25pm Brian from Canada disagrees with Moeen. "Had enough of t20s, its good to have long matches after the burst in the past few months. And in my view, constant changing of targets adds thrills. Anyone agree?"

12.10pm Moeen from Canada has a suggestion: "I think that rain affected ODIs should be automatically reduced to the minimum over requirement (20 overs) needed in order to constitute a game. Why? Because most rain-affected games that I know of unfairly gives one side an unfair advantage. The disadvantage (to the other side) arise when the target changes constantly. The last match as an example, for West Indies, 50 overs to 41 to 39 to 27. Clearly this is madness and the only thing it does is irritate fans and reduce the standard of this lovely sport."

Nyus from St Lucia says a shortened match (if we have one) will favour India. "With Chris Gayle gone, and what appears to be a very weak bowling attack with the absence of Edwards, West Indies may not be able to restrict India in the run chase. Sulieman Benn has failed to make any meaningful impact in the series so far, taking only one wicket at an average of 118 i believe. Same can be said for David Bernard Jr who is yet to make is case. As a result WI have at their disposal a very feeble attack with only Ravi Rampaul proving dangerous. Hence why most West Indies believe that the team selections have let down the Windies. Any person in their right frame of mind would have brought in Sammy to replace Bernard after the first two games and brought in an additional spinner to replace Benn. The downfall of West Indies cricket thus, can be largely attributed to poor team selection."

And Sandeep Raikar wonders why there are no reserve days in this series.

We have plenty of Canadians writing in today. One of them Shardul S has a rather radical suggestion. "I think rain-affected matches should not be played at all, because the pitch offers a unfair advantage, and the limit of overs disturbs the other team."

12.00pm Still no sign of a restart. Ironically at Wimbledon, where they have a fancy new roof, it's a beautiful, sunny day.

Hemwant from the US writes in: "Who & why schedule cricket in the West Indies in June/July knowing fully well that it is the rainy season. Bangladesh/WI matches will be likewise affected by rain. Are future tours more important that cricket?."

The free-hit will have to wait though, as it has started to rain, the players walk off and the groundsmen rush in with the covers. It coming down pretty heavily, we may be in for a long halt in play.

Oh dear, it's really pelting down now. On commentary Tony Cozier says it's torrential rain and not just a shower, he worries that they may be no more play today.

It's very windy out there, raising some hope that the clouds will pass. Some of the West Indies fans aren't too concerned by the rain, they have a drink in their hand and are dancing in the downpour.

7.4
1nb
Nehra to Sarwan, (no ball)

good delivery from Nehra, but it's a no-ball, back of a length moving into Sarwan, who gets a bottom-edge on it

7.3
Nehra to Sarwan, no run

back to offstump line from Nehra, Sarwan wanted to crash that through cover, doesn't quite get hold of it, and it rolls towards point

7.2
Nehra to Sarwan, no run

fullish ball on the pads, Sarwan nudges it towards square leg

it's still pretty cloudy at St Lucia, and has become very dark

7.1
2
Nehra to Sarwan, 2 runs

Sarwan looks to repeat that eye-catching cover drive of his, gets a bit of an outside edge this time, so it doesn't go as far as the previous one, the batsmen sprint through for two

end of over 79 runs
WI: 24/1CRR: 3.42 
Runako Morton12 (22b)
Ramnaresh Sarwan10 (18b)
Ishant Sharma 4-0-17-1
Ashish Nehra 3-1-6-0

no more second slip in place, he moves towards short point

6.6
Sharma to Morton, no run

Morton looks to hammer this short one over the leg side, horribly mistimed, the ball dribbles back towards the bowler

6.5
3
Sharma to Sarwan, 3 runs

good-looking shot from Sarwan, the ball was on a length just outside off, he stepped into a cover drive, placement was perfect, between cover and extra cover, it's a damp outfield which keeps the ball from reaching the boundary, the batsmen take three though

6.4
1
Sharma to Morton, 1 run

full and on the pads, Morton turns it towards midwicket

6.3
2
Sharma to Morton, 2 runs

short and outside off again, Morton looks to pull but slices it towards mid-on, nearly caught there, Yuvraj puts in a dive but can't reach it

6.2
2
Sharma to Morton, 2 runs

short and wide from Ishant, Morton crashes it towards third man, who had to cover some ground to his right to cit it off, gives the batsmen time to get a couple

6.1
1lb
Sharma to Sarwan, 1 leg bye

full and on the pads, Sarwan misses out on that one, looked to swing it down to fine leg, hits him on the pads outside legstump and rolls away towards Dhoni

end of over 6Maiden
WI: 15/1CRR: 2.50 
Runako Morton7 (18b)
Ramnaresh Sarwan7 (16b)
Ashish Nehra 3-1-6-0
Ishant Sharma 3-0-9-1
5.6
Nehra to Morton, no run

similar length from Nehra, again the ball jags into the batsman, who adjusts late to defend it towards mid-off

5.5
Nehra to Morton, no run

sharp movement into the batsman after pitching on off, Morton looks to defend off the front foot, another inside-edge onto the pads, this is good stuff from Nehra

5.4
Nehra to Morton, no run

Morton goes for an extravagant pull to a shortish ball, gets a thick bottom edge onto his pads, the ball dribbles down the pitch

5.3
Nehra to Morton, no run

a bit fuller from Nehra, this time Mortin connects with the cut and gets it away towards point

5.2
Nehra to Morton, no run

extra bounce for Nehra, beats the batsman who was trying to cut a delivery from middle stump, doesn't connect and it sails to the keeper

5.1
Nehra to Morton, no run

fullish ball on the pads, played towards midwicket by Morton who wants a single but is sent back by Sarwan

end of over 53 runs
WI: 15/1CRR: 3.00 
Ramnaresh Sarwan7 (16b)
Runako Morton7 (12b)
Ishant Sharma 3-0-9-1
Ashish Nehra 2-0-6-0
4.6
Sharma to Sarwan, no run

an uncharacteristic shot from Sarwan to end the over, short and well outside off, Sarwan wanted to hook that to midwicket, it goes through to the keeper, there's a faint noise as it passes the batsman, the Indians are confident they've got Sarwan, but umpire rules it not out, hard to tell from the replays whether it hit the bat or not

4.5
1
Sharma to Morton, 1 run

a bit wide outside off, Morton bends his knees as he glides that towards third man for another single

4.4
1
Sharma to Sarwan, 1 run

on middle and leg, easy run for Sarwan after he wrists it beind square leg

Not too much of a crowd in, just a smattering of people

4.3
Sharma to Sarwan, no run

back of a length from Ishant, again cramping Sarwan for room, the batsman defends it towards cover

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
RS Morton
12 runs (22)
0 four0 six
Productive shot
off side drive on back foot
6 runs
0 four0 six
Control
68%
RR Sarwan
12 runs (22)
0 four0 six
Productive shot
off side drive on front foot
6 runs
0 four0 six
Control
83%
Best performances - bowlers
I Sharma
O
4
M
0
R
17
W
1
ECO
4.25
A Nehra
O
3.3
M
1
R
9
W
0
ECO
2.57
Match details
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
TossIndia, elected to field first
Series
Season2009
Player Of The Series
Series resultIndia won the 4-match series 2-1
Match numberODI no. 2855
Hours of play (local time)09.30 start, First Session 09.30-13.00 Interval 13.00-13.45, Second Session 13.45-17.15
Match days5 July 2009 - day (50-over match)
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee