it's over, India are through, Pakistan are out, WI v SA is a quarter-final, Karthik closes out the game with an emphatic lofted cover drive that also brings up his half-century, a dominant victory for India who have underlined their claims as one of the favourites for the title
West Indies vs India, 6th Match, Group B at London, Jun 11 2013 - Ball by Ball Commentary
Can Shikhar Dhawan do any wrong these days? The amount of self-belief, the amount of time he has to play his shots, the ability to score at a run-a-ball without needing to resort to aerial strokes. Rohit Sharma got his second consecutive half-century to solidify his place at the top of the order, and Dinesh Karthik stayed till the end with an unbeaten fifty.
The West Indies bowlers can't be proud of this effort, there were far too many short and wide deliveries early on, gifting away easy runs to the Indian openers. Sunil Narine tried his utmost but the steady drizzle limited his effectiveness, and Kemar Roach couldn't duplicate his superb effort against Pakistan.
Darshan: "I would love to say that both India and Pakistan will play the last match without being under any pressure! None of them have anything to lose from the match!! Really???"
Hang around for the presentation.
Dwayne Bravo: "Not enough runs, after the start we got, we deserved to have got 40-50 runs more, having said that, the Indians bowled well, had their plans and stuck to it. Congratulations to Sammy for coming back into the team and performing. We need to work on working the ball around, our strike-rates as middle-order batsmen. Definitely we bowled too wide, fast outfield, gotta give credit to the Indian batters, we still have a good chance to qualify. Sunil is our key bowler but not enough runs, he bowled very well, my aim was to make sure he bowled out. The next match is like a final itself, we know it is not going to be an easy game, but we know we have the talent to do it."
MS Dhoni: "Overall a very good performance, WI got to a very good start, they seemed like they would get 280 runs or so, our bowlers did very well after that, our bowlers were able to keep the batsmen at their respective ends, didn't let them rotate easily. You think I know him (Jadeja) well, but even I'm finding out over a period of time. I think the execution was not really there (at the death). We'd been happy with 230 at the outset. I think the young batsmen have accepted the challenge, Dhawan did well in the Tests, Rohit took up the challenge of opening the batting, also it helps that we have changed into a very good fielding side. (crowd cheers when asked about Pakistan game) I don't think Indian team has every played a dead game, I think it is also important in areas where we want to improve."
Man of the Match is Ravindra Jadeja: "I was just trying to bowl in the right areas, I played here against England and took two wickets, I'm just trying to give my good performance. I was just bowling wicket-to-wicket and letting the pitch do the rest."
That's that from the game, thanks for all the feedback. Head here to catch Rahul Dravid and Ian Bishop on their live video analysis of this game.
Thanks for the tons of mails, see you all tomorrow.
prayaG: "96 + 6 to a Hundred... Aren't we missing Sehwag anymore...?? :)"
Faldo: "Situations like this when both batsmen are within a stroke of a fifty or a hundred with very few runs left for the final target, pose a dilemma, whether to be magnanimous to one's partner, be selfish or just put the team goal above everything."
short of length ball outside off, left alone by Dhawan, end of the over, Karthik on strike
first ball for six and then four short balls that are left alone by Dhawan
Bravo keeps it short, Dhawan keeps swaying out of the line, he's waiting to give Karthik a chance to get a half-century
another short ball, left alone by Dhawan
a bouncer that Dhawan bends under
another century for Dhawan, and gets there in some style as well, his third international ton in a row from a man who stumbled in his first stint as an international player, it was short and wide, Dhawan thumps that to the backward point boundary for six, the starfish celebration that is becoming his trademark comes out
D R: "The reasons are two fold - first called sir by fan due to his illustrious first-class record with multiple triple hundreds rivaling Bradman. Secondly Dhoni and the India team call him Sir(translates to "head" in hindi) , presumably because of the big barnet that Jadeja possessed a few months ago. There is a hint of sarcasm in the first instance as Jadeja's international run scoring record is modest at best."
again bowled from wide of the crease, Karthik gets close to the stumps and defends
length ball just outside off, punched to sweeper cover for a single
dropped behind square leg for a single
Karthik has, as Sid Monga shouts, ramped it past Rampaul, bends his knee and plays that over the keeper and too fine for the third man fielder
kallu: "@Damith - sir Don bradman and jadeja are only 2 guys to score 3 '300s' in first-class. since bradman is sir, Jaddu is also called Sir."
outside off, punched towards short third man for a single
Karthik Abiram: "@Damith, Because if you give "Sirji" 1 ball to get 2 runs, he will do it with 1 ball to spare.. #Real Fact"
Pollard did a Prabhakar there, swaying away from the stumps at the last moment, angles it across the batsman who looks to scythe it through the off and misses
full ball is driven to the right of the bowler and the left of mid-on for an effortless four
short ball is pulled towards deep square leg, for a moment Dhawan was worried as the ball ballooned in the air but it does"t carry as far as Pollard
length ball is pushed towards mid-off, a quick single is pinched
satya: "Dhawan reminds me more of Jayasuriya with lot of bottom hand strokes on square of the wicket...good to see him performing well at international level.."
length ball, driven towards cover
short ball is pulled to deep square leg for a single
Damith: "Could someone tell me why Jadeja is called sirji?" Who wants to explain this?
a yorker just outside off, blocked to the off side and they scramble a single
single to end the over, a powerful hit towards sweeper cover