Teams aim for improved performance

Sunday, June 28, 2009
Start time 09.30 (14.30 GMT)

India gained a 1-0 lead in the four-ODI series against West Indies but there was plenty of scope for improvement in the performance which resulted in a 20-run win at Sabina Park on Friday. MS Dhoni did not appear to be a happy man as he shook hands with the West Indian batsmen after the game. The victory was largely due to Yuvraj Singh's brilliance, his 131 off 102 balls making up for the loss of early wickets and ensuring that a wayward bowling attack had enough to defend.

The Indian top-order remained suspect against the short ball with Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma falling to miscued pulls. Even Yuvraj and Dinesh Karthik succeeded only after surviving nervous moments against the rising delivery. It was only after the ball grew older on a slow pitch, and Jerome Taylor gave way to less threatening bowlers, that India began to dominate. The Indian bowling was also far from satisfactory; the problems caused by the inability to contain the West Indian batsmen were compounded by an unacceptable number of extras. India's bowlers conceded 19 of the 29 extras through wides and bowled two front-foot no-balls.

West Indies did well to get so close to a monstrous target but they could have done better and pulled off a stunning chase if one of their top-order batsmen played a long innings. Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all made valuable contributions to keep West Indies in the game but got out just as they were beginning to dominate India. The pressure on the Indian bowlers, therefore, dissipated and left the lower-order batsmen with too much to do.

That West Indies were chasing a total of 340 was down to their bowlers indiscipline in line and length and their inability to fight back once the Indian batsmen raised the tempo. They will have to reduce the number of loose deliveries drastically to avoid another hiding on Sunday.

ODI form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

India - WLWWN
West Indies - LLLNL

Yuvraj Singh came into the series bearing the responsibility of India's most experienced batsman in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, and he delivered spectacularly. He began his innings with India on 32 for 2, battled through a tentative period, and then successfully attacked anyone who bowled at him. Yuvraj paced himself superbly, playing cautiously when Karthik fell, before going berserk during the batting Powerplay.

Jerome Taylor bowled an outstanding first spell, bouncing the top-order batsmen, and beating them repeatedly by seaming the ball from short of a length. He took 1 for 16 off his first five overs but was unable to sustain his intensity during later spells. He hemorrhaged 37 runs in two overs during the batting Powerplay and never recovered from that onslaught. In the absence of Fidel Edwards, West Indies need Taylor to step up and deliver consistently.

India are unlikely to change their XI from the first ODI unless there are injury or fatigue concerns with some players.

India (likely): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 Rohit Sharma, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ashish Nehra.

West Indies only have a squad of 13 to pick from for the first two ODIs and the players who missed out on Friday were Ravi Rampaul and Narsingh Deonarine. The one possible change they could make is to replace Lionel Baker with Rampaul.

West Indies (likely): 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Runako Morton, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Darren Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 David Bernard, 10 Suleiman Benn, 11 Lionel Baker/ Ravi Rampaul.

"Once Yuvraj (Singh) gets in he always gives us a good score with a very good strike rate and we depend a lot on him because he bats at a very crucial position for us - at number four."
MS Dhoni on India's man in form.

"He did not show any signs of nerves because he also did well in the outfield and I hope he can go on to make a bigger score whenever he gets the opportunity again."
Chris Gayle on Darren Bravo's first outing in international cricket.