Cricket - India

Day 3 Review | 2nd Test India Vs Australia Dec,2014

2014-12-19T06:54:00.002-08:00

Session 1 : Australia
Session 2 : Australia
Session 3 : Pitch

Over All : Australia : 3/3

Despite Umesh Yadav's three-wicket haul on Day 2, Steve Smith again proved the elusive wicket for India as the new captain fashioned an Australian fightback. Smith, who was not dismissed by India in last week's Adelaide Test, with scores of 162 and 52, continued to be the bane of the tourists with another defiant knock. At the close, with a fierce storm about to break, Australia were 221 for four in reply to India's 408 with Smith unbeaten on 65 and Mitchell Marsh on seven.

In the first session on Day 2, debutant, Josh Hazlewood captured five wickets and Brad Haddin equalled a wicket-keeping record (6 catches) as Australia dismissed India for 408 at lunch. Australia lost the wickets of David Warner (29), Shane Watson (25), Chris Rogers (55) and Shaun Marsh (32) in the final two sessions before Smith essayed an unbeaten knock.

Smith will look to carry on and close in on the deficit. On the other hand, India will seek to make early inroads and wrap up the Australian innings quickly to reach a strong position from where they could dictate terms.

Ishant Sharma delivered an early breakthrough on Day 3, dismissing Mitchell Marsh in the 57th over. The 23-year-old shouldered arms to a delivery that nipped back in and saw the ball crash onto the stumps to depart on 11. Australia were 232/5.

Smith batted in a steady manner as he tried to hold the Australian innings together. However, the hosts suffered another setback as Varun Aaron got the wicket of Brad Haddin in the 62nd over. The Indians employed the short-ball strategy against the wicket-keeper batsman and it worked well for them. Aaron bowled a well-directed short delivery from round the wicket and Haddin was in an awkward position when he tried to fend the ball away and ended up handing a catch to Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg.

Mitchell Johnson, who was the next man in, hung around with Smith, aiding him in building a partnership. The found the boundaries regularly with Johnson taking the attack to the Indian pacers, especially Ishant, who was bowling wayward and also over-stepped few times. Meanwhile, Aaron, who dived to cut off a single, hurt his left shoulder. He was seen in some pain and walked off the field to get some attention. Smith soon entered the 90s with a boundary off Ashwin in the 68th over and this brought up the half-century stand for the 7th wicket. Johnson scored a four off Yadav in the following over to help Australia past 300 and two more boundaries in the same over helped the left-hander enter the 40s.

Johnson took the attack to Aaron in the 71st over, getting past fifty in style with three boundaries in a row. He got to his half-century off just 37 balls. In the 73rd over, Smith registered a superb ton, his 6th in Test cricket, by cutting Aaron past point for a four. As the Gabba stood up to applaud, Smith punched the air, removes his helmet and soaked in the applause. In getting to a hundred on his captaincy debut, Smith emulated Greg Chappell.

Smith scored a boundary off Aaron in the 75th over to bring up the century stand. Australia went into lunch at 351/6, trailing by 57 runs, with Smith and Johnson having put on 104 runs off just 87 balls. The Australian captain was unbeaten on 110 while the left-arm quick was on 67 not-out.

India had only themselves to blame as they let the initiative go after Haddin's wicket. Johnson, who was sledged by the Indians when he came in, counter-attacked brilliantly to put India under pressure, while Smith at the other end paced his innings well and got a hundred on captaincy debut. Unless India can pull up their socks in the second session, Australia might well end up with a handy lead.

Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin operated in tandem for a few overs but they could not do any damage as the Australian 7th wicket pair handled them with ease, continuing to score at a steady rate to reduce the deficit. The second new ball was taken as soon as it was available but that did not change things as far as Australia were concerned. There was a chance created when Johnson top-edged a pull off Yadav to third-man in the 83rd over. However, the fielder, Ishant misjudged it and the ball sailed over him for a four, which took Johnson into the 80s.

Johnson missed out on a well-deserved ton, falling to Ishant in the 88th over, 12 short of the three-figure mark. The left-hander chased a wide delivery outside-off, attempting a drive, but he ended up nicking it to Dhoni. The dismissal brought a partnership worth 148 runs to an end. Ishant struck again in the same over, dismissing Smith on 133. The Australian captain inside-edged the ball onto the stumps while looking to steer it to third man and was dismissed for the first time in the series.

Despite picking up two wickets in quick succession, India could not prevent Australia from taking the lead. Mitchell Starc, who came out with a positive intent, scored three runs off Aaron in the 89th over to power Australia past 400 before hitting Ishant for consecutive boundaries in the following over to help Australia take the lead. Starc also had a lucky break as Yadav dropped one off his own bowling in the 91st over and the pacer saw the next ball travel to the boundary. The over ended with Starc hitting another four after which umpire Marais Erasmus received some ice treatment from the Australian team doctor as he was struck on the wrist when Yadav dropped Starc.

Nathan Lyon too scored some useful runs, assisting Starc in extending the lead. The run-feast continued and a couple for Lyon off Aaron in the 95th over brought up the half-century stand. In the next over, Lyon flayed an Ashwin delivery to the on-side for a boundary to help Australia past 450. The 9th wicket stand came to an end in the 97th over when Lyon, trying to punch Aaron over the top, hit the ball straight to Rohit at mid-on to depart on 23.

With a single off Aaron in the 99th over, Starc took the lead to the 50-run mark. Hazlewood nicked one in the same over, but the ball landed just short of Ashwin at first slip. It was Dhoni's catch as the ball was only marginally to his left and a dive could have done the job for India, but the skipper did not move an inch. A couple of overs later, Ishant was late to react in his follow-thorough when Starc had top-edged a pull and the ball landed in no-man's land. Meanwhile, Hazlewood too helped himself to some runs, scoring a few boundaries as Australia's tail continued to wag.

The tea break was delayed as Australia were nine down, but India did not have any respite as they continued to leak runs. Starc moved to 49 with a boundary and a single off Ishant in the 105th over. At the end of the over, the ball was changed as it was out of shape. Starc then registered his 4th Test fifty with a single off Ashwin in the 106th over while the off-spinner was hit for a four by Hazlewood in the 108th over, which took Australia past 500. The hosts went into tea at 503/9, leading by 95 runs. Starc was unbeaten on 51 with Hazlewood giving him company on 31 not-out.

Ishant engineered a double strike, getting rid of both Smith and Johnson in the same over. However, Starc took over and guided Australia past the 500-mark, in the company of Lyon and Hazlewood. After suffering from heat distress on the opening day, Starc scored a fine fifty, turning the heat on India. Hazlewood is closing in on a fifty of his own. Will he make it a memorable debut with a fifty to follow his fifer?

Starc's defiance finally came to an end when he fell to R Ashwin after the tea break. Looking to heave across the line, the left-hander failed to make any contact with the ball and was bowled on 52. Australia finished with a total 505, taking a handy 97-run lead.

At one stage, Australia were 247/6 with Smith the only genuine batsman. However, the lower-order contributed substantially to take the total past 500. Johnson was involved in a record 7th wicket stand with his skipper. Then Starc put on useful stands of 56 and 51 with Lyon (23) and Hazlewood (32) respectively. Apart from the first hour of the day, the Indian bowlers looked flat. The short ball ploy against Johnson and Co. didn't work and by doing that they might have just fired up the Aussie bowlers. It is now upto the batsmen, first to survive the 30 odd overs today and to wipe out the deficit.

The Australian new-ball bowlers came hard at the Indian opening pair, but the in-form Murali Vijay got India off to a positive start. He was not afraid to play shots in the air, three such shots of Johnson might have given the Indian fans some nervous moments, but Vijay ensured that the scorecard was ticking. Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, was slightly tentative, struggling to middle the ball, but he too motored along at a steady pace.

Just when it looked like India were on course for a solid opening partnership, Murali Vijay dragged a Mitchell Starc delivery back onto the stumps to be out for 27. The ball bounced a bit extra than Vijay anticipated and the inside edge crashed into the middle stump. It turned out be a fine move by captain Steve Smith to bring on Starc as he got Australia the breakthrough with just his 9th ball after replacing Mitchell Johnson.

After dismissing Vijay, Australia bowled some tight overs and stemmed the run flow. Shane Watson, as he has done a number of times, bowled an excellent spell of 5-3-6-0, keeping the batsmen calm by bowling in the corridor of uncertainty. He also beat the bat on a few occasions and came very close to finding the outside of Cheteshwar Pujara.

Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara batted cautiously to help India close Day 3 at 71/1, 26 runs behind Australia's first innings total. With India putting up a determined display with the bat in their second essay, the game is still nicely poised and the morning session on Day 4 holds crucial for both sides.

Day 2 Review | 2nd Test India Vs Australia Test Series Dec,2014

2014-12-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

Before I state, who led the sessions, it would be worth to make some statements here!

"Australian Debutantes always deliver"
"Rohit Sharma and India does leave up to his reputation"
"Steve Smith Just Started his fight!"
"Dhoni has always his way of come back"

Session 1: Australia
Session 2: Australia
Session 3: Shared

Overall : Australia : 2.5/3

Many fans have anticipated India's fall early in the day today. That did happen here today, thanks to some wonderful performance by debutante JR Hazlewood for his 5 wicket mark.

Steve Smith(65*)

Early in the morning, wickets fell starting with 1st day's Hero Rahene at 81. Rohit shortly followed him at 32, again falling to turn the good start into a better innings. Indian's will be wondering, if he is test player at-all.

Dhoni and Aswin continued with some good shots but still falling to make greater impact. Dhoni played some good shorts of MA Starc. Aswin(35) and Dhoni(33) fell in short intervals, leading to the collapse of Indian innings at 411.

Australia started their batting with fire-works. They maintained their run rate above 5 until 3 wickets fell. They only batted with an intention to score as many runs as possible anticipating the mornings conditions of third day, which could make it difficult for them to score runs.

DA Warner(29) and SR Watson(25) could not turn good starts to bigger innings but opener CJL Rogers(55) was very impressive. He made a good partner ship with all the other end batsmen. He was stumped by Indian Captain Dhoni, which make Dhoni's stump count equal to that of legendary Cricketer of Sri
Lanka, Sangarkara.

The New Australian Captain, Steve Smith(65*) played his natural game. He maintained run rate, playing shots all across the stadium. He scored boundaries with regular ease. He was well assisted by SE Marsh(32) before losing his wicket at the end of the day, thus letting India back into the innings.

The game at the end of the day, stands a chance for both the teams, thus making Test Cricket More interesting. Thanks to some good cricket here. We will be looking for some exiting game tomorrow. Catch you guys in tomorrow's review. Until then Take Care.

Day 1 Review - 2nd Test | India Vs Australia Test Series Dec,2014

2014-12-17T06:02:00.001-08:00

Who Has Upper Hand:

Session 1 : India
Session 2 : Shared
Session 3 : India

Overall : India : 2.5/3

That is quite a something that makes India fans Happy today. Except for some unlucky umpiring decisions and a bit slow over-rate, they have absolutely nothing to worry about. It is not just because they have runs on the board but the way Indian batsmen performed today.

They Seemed to have understood conditions well. They paced their innings brilliantly. They seemed to have drawn some inspiration from Virat Kohli's first test performance.

Murali Vijay (144)

Session 1:

Both openers started very well. Especially Murali Viay. He just continued his run stream at the same time maintained his temper. Shikar Dhawan was not at-all troubled with his batting but he fell for a very less score of 24(70) after building an opening partner ship of 50 runs.

Session 2:

Australian bowlers started to show their dominance with some good bouncers and good spells. They were aided by an unlucky umpiring decision, ending CA Pujara's innings 18(86). They had Virat Kohli, the last match's Hero at 19(27). Then, Rahane joined with Viay to continue the innings. An important observation here is, Indian batsmen did not fell in quick succession. They succeeded in spending good time at crease. Thus making the session 50-50.

Rahane 75*

Session 3:

Session 3 continued with some brilliant batting from both Vijay and Rahane. They settled themselves at crease and played with ease taking advantage of the pitch. Rahane was both aggressive and consistent at the same time, playing mostly back-foot shorts. Vijay played a more aggressive game in the end, he scored 73 from first 150 balls and only took 63 balls to score his next 71 runs. Such was his dominance. Vijay fell, trying to play a front-foot shot 144(213).

Rohit, he will be closely watched here for his performance. He looked completely confident at the crease. He hit the first six of the match in MM Lyon's bowling. Rahane continued in the other end with some good shorts, not leaving an week balls.

By the end the pair managed to take India post 311/4. Thus in-a-way dominating the whole day. India scored second highest score on this stadium only after west Indies 369/7 in 1935.

The two batsmen will be looking for some score in the morning session tomorrow. India will be hoping to continue some good bating from the Rohit and M S Dhoni in this match.

They have dominated the day 1 but for them to be in a comfortable situation they need to bat at least for next two sessions. Indian will be hoping some win here.

Scores Brief : Vijay(144) , Rahane* (75) , Rohit*(25) Day 1 Stumps : India : 311/4

IPL T20 7 | Preview Match 11 : KKR vs RCB

2014-04-24T05:33:00.001-07:00

Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have a 100 percent record thus far in the Pepsi IPL 2014, will clash with the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 11 of the season.

Both teams rejoin the tournament after four-day break. RCB trounced the Delhi Daredevils in their opening match and then rolled over the defending champions, Mumbai Indians, in their next outing. The Kolkata Knight Riders caused an upset in the very first match of Pepsi IPL 2014 when they defeated MI by 41 runs. In their second outing, they lost a close contest after the Delhi Daredevils prevailed in their chase of 167, getting home by four wickets with three balls to spare.

RCB are loaded with ample ammunition on the batting front – even without Chris Gayle whose participation in this match remains in doubt. Meanwhile, KKR definitely possess riches on the bowling front – in terms of experience, variety and match-winners.

The unassuming Parthiv Patel has been RCB’s top run-getter in the competition so far – playing useful hands in both his team’s wins. Yet, the ones to keep an eye on are skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh and Albie Morkel – who can win matches single-handedly.

KKR too have enough depth in their batting – Piyush Chawla bats at No.8. But the one who holds the key to their success is their skipper, Gautam Gambhir. After two outings in Pepsi IPL 2014, the southpaw is yet to open his account, and he will be keen to avoid a hat-trick of ducks. Jacques Kallis will yet again be expected to play the anchor role, while Manish Pandey, who looked good in both the previous matches, will be keen to carry on his good form.

The one bowler whose four overs promise to be sensational is KKR’s Sunil Narine. The Trinidadian has played over 100 T20 matches and has bowled 2599 deliveries in this format, yet batsmen around the world struggle to pick him. His figures in Pepsi IPL 2014 read 8-0-38-5, which indicate to an economy of 4.75 and a strike-rate of a wicket every 9.6 deliveries; it will be interesting to see how the RCB batsmen play out his four overs.

Notes from previous Match

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians: RCB will count themselves lucky given their lapses in the field did not cost them too much. Two catches were grassed and a run-out opportunity was fluffed – yet RCB managed to keep MI down to 115.

Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils: KKR too were rusty on the field in their previous outing. Not only did they concede five runs through misfields, they also gave away some extra runs by not backing up returns from the outfield. The one other area of note that calls for improvement is converting the number of singles into more productive strokes – in a format where more is merrier, these finer things could make a difference.

Previous Meetings

The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders have shared honors in the 12 meetings between them – both teams have won six matches each. Even in the previous season, the teams shared the honours by winning their respective home matches; RCB chased down 158 to win by eight wickets in Bangalore, while KKR chased down 116 in Ranchi to win by five wickets.

Among the memorable matches between these two teams is the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League – back on April 18, 2008 – when Brendon McCullum blazed his way to a record-breaking 158. Among others, Chris Gayle struck a century in his very first outing in RCB colours – and that happened to come against his former team, KKR!

Trivia

Jacques Kallis & Gautam Gambhir will be keener than ever to get off the dreaded duck. They share the dubious record – along with Amit Mishra – for being dismissed on nought most often in the IPL – nine times each.

53.6 percent of Manish Pandey’s 112 runs in Pepsi IPL 2014 have come in the quadrant covering the midwicket and long-off regions.

What Next

Both teams will be seen in action next on Saturday, April 26 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. While RCB will be seen in action earlier in the evening when they square off against the Rajasthan Royals, the Kolkata Knight Riders will face Kings XI Punjab later in the evening.

IPL 7 | Chennai Super Kings Captain, Hopes for a Better Performance against all Odds

2014-04-16T09:55:00.003-07:00

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels adjusting to the conditions in UAE will be the biggest challenge for his team though he expects the two-time champions to at least reach the semi-finals of the seventh Indian Premier League (IPL) beginning on Wednesday.

Chennai Superkings Captain | Ms Dhoni

"There are players who are coming from the Asia Cup in Dhaka, some even from New Zealand. The challenge is the ability to adapt and perform quickly," Dhoni said ahead of their tournament opener against Kings XI Punjab here on Friday.
Talking about the weather, Dhoni said: "Yes, the weather is slightly different when you compare to Mumbai or Chennai or Kolkata. It is hot and humid. But Delhi has very dry heat and this place is similar to that. It will be a challenge. But sports people crib a lot initially. But you don't get bothered by it once we start to play."
MS Dhoni expects Chennai Super Kings to reach at least semi-finals
Dhoni feels adjusting to the conditions in UAE will be the biggest challenge though he expects his team to at least reach the semi-finals of IPL 7.

The Super Kings have retained the core of their team comprising Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, West Indian Dwayne Bravo and Dhoni himself. The most successful team in the IPL looks a formidable force by also boasting the likes of New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and the dangerous Faf du Plessis from South Africa.

Asked about his team's chances, Dhoni said: "Consistency at playing well and reaching the semi-finals is our goal firstly. We can't say we will win because all it takes is one individual to have a good day. The important thing is to reach the semi-finals, and you up your game a bit.

"In knockout stages, you play to the best of your potential. That becomes crucial," the India captain was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website. The wicketkeeper-batsman reckoned it was good that Super Kings have not made too many changes in the squad since the cash-rich league began in 2008.

"The good thing is, we haven't had so many changed players since season one. We try to retain as many as possible. And as a team, we lay down what each one's roles and responsibilities are. And we try to learn as we are making mistakes; we want to keep that low," he added.

WT20 2014 | Sourav Ganguly , All Praise For Suresh Raina.

2014-03-25T11:43:00.001-07:00

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels that Suresh Raina's ability as a T20 batsman is "unquestionable" and his success in the ongoing World T20 will give him confidence to get ready for "bigger battles" ahead.
Raina's sequence of scores, including the two warm-up games, are 41, 54, 35 not out and 1 not out and he had credited Ganguly for giving him tips which proved to be invaluable in his recent success.
"I never had any doubts about Suresh's talent and ability. He has always been a class act in shortest format. He is a dangerous T20 batsman and a big threat for any opposition team. I am certainly hopeful that his current form in ICC World T20 will translate into something bigger and better in the coming days," Ganguly told.

"There will be tougher battles ahead (England tour in July-September, Australia tour and World Cup) and I would ideally want to him get success in those battles," he said.
Asked about the kind of technical inputs he has given to Raina, Ganguly said, "Yes, I have had interactions with Suresh but what I told him is a very personal thing between two individuals and not for media consumption. He is a colleague and it is my duty to help him if he ever needs any. I am always there to help anyone who needs my advice and I don't believe in making a hue and cry about it.
For someone, who had been a mentor to Yuvraj Singh during the early part of his career, Ganguly said people should not read too much into the left-handed batsman's indifferent form at the moment.
"It's only two matches that Yuvraj has not got runs. We should not make a big fuss about it. He is a human being and can go through a tough phase. He has the talent to overcome this. Show me one sportsman who has played at the top level for 14, 15 or 16 years and never had a slump in form? This is bound to happen as that's how the nature of sport is," said Ganguly.
Ganguly said the key was having self belief and willingness to work hard.
"Self belief is always the key and also Yuvi will need to work even harder now. His time will certainly come and he will have to ready to grab his chance then," said Ganguly who has made several comebacks during his illustrious international career.
Many people have been talking about how India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami requires rest as he has played 18 ODIs, one List A, four T20s and six Test matches since October 23 last year. But Ganguly has a different view.
"What rest?" he countered. "Shami is only 24 years old.
He is a strong young man. Just because he has played some 15-20 matches does not mean that he should be rested. This is the time when he should be play more matches. I do not think he requires any rest. His duty is to run in hard and bowl whenever the captain throws the ball at him," Ganguly said.
Amit Mishra has been a revelation for India in the World Twenty20 so far and Ganguly predicted that whenever there will be a bit more help for the spinners, the leggie would prove to be more than a handful for the opposition batsmen.
"The tracks where the ball is turning, Mishra will always trouble the batsmen. The conditions at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium suit his style of bowling. Also he is a good T20 bowler having enjoyed some success in the Indian Premier League. He did reasonably well for Sunrisers Hyderabad during the last edition of IPL," 41-year-old Ganguly said.
Ganguly, who played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs, also said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni "has led the side well in the tournament" although he did not wish to be drawn into the debate as to whether the India captain has been a bit more pro-active in this format than the longer version.
He tipped India a contender to win the World T20 although he said there was some way to go in the tournament.
"The spinners are doing a good job. It's too early to say whether this is the best chance for them to win the T20 World Cup but certainly they have started well. In conditions where the ball is spinning, India will certainly be one of the contenders but they have only played two matches. There is still some way to go," Ganguly said.

WT20 2014 : Post Match Review | India Vs West Indies

2014-03-24T02:04:00.003-07:00

West Indies have been in Bangladesh for a week, but they still looked jetlagged in a bizarre innings of 129 for 7, which set up another comprehensive win for India, who were excellent with the ball. From the moment Bhuvneshwar Kumar surprised Dwayne Smith with a first over full of outswingers, West Indies sleepwalked through most of their innings, failing to make India pay for some sloppy fielding. India will be only mildly annoyed with that because of the stupendous work done by their bowlers.

Bhuvneshwar set the template with the most economical figures in Twenty20 internationals - 3-0-3-0, Shami kept the pressure up at the other end, R Ashwin bowled out pretty early to make sure that pressure pushed West Indies to the breaking point, and then Amit Mishra applied the coup de grâce with the wickets of Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo off successive deliveries.

Without taking away from how well India bowled, it was an incredibly passive effort from West Indies. Despite a generous helping of extras, West Indies were 46 for 1 after 10 overs, Chris Gayle's 34 off 33 was his slowest 30-or-more-ball knock, Dwayne Smith prodded and fumbled around for 11 off 29, and the rest crumbled under the pressure of needing more than 100 in the last 10 to even be competitive when the dew would come in. All this despite two dropped catches: Gayle on 0 and 19.

There was something special about India's bowling at the top, especially Bhuvneshwar. Every time he bowled full to Smith, he looked like he would get a wicket. In the lead-up to the match, Suresh Raina had spoken about how West Indies struggle to get the runs when the big sixes are not forthcoming. Darren Sammy said, okay stop us hitting the sixes. Only six sixes were hit in the innings, and the singles were miserably low.

When those sixes were hit, as Gayle did as soon as legspinner Mishra was introduced, it involved a huge risk. Be that as it may, when you are 24 after six overs, with your partner struggling to get bat on ball, you are under the pressure to take those risks. The first one brought Gayle a six, but Mishra's wrong'un next ball should have had him. Yuvraj Singh joined Ashwin as Gayle's benefactor, but an extended spell of disciplined bowling from Ashwin - overs 6, 8, 10 and 12 for 24 runs - made sure Gayle didn't benefit much at all.

With no bad balls on offer, both Gayle and Marlon Samuels were handcuffed. The two are the last pair you want in the middle when you are hoping for quick running because boundaries are not available. Quite a few twos were turned into ones before Gayle was run out not even trying to make it to the striker's end. Dhoni could have gone off and finished his media interviews and come back to take the bails off; Gayle would still have not made it. At 62 for 2 in 13 overs, with Samuels struggling, they may as well have finished the interviews then.

Mishra put paid to all hopes of a Colombo-final-like comeback with a sharp legbreak that provided his captain his 127th stumping in all international cricket. Nobody has more. Bravo was next beaten comprehensively by the googly, and the game was practically over.

Some indiscipline from India towards the end took West Indies to 129, and despite a poorly called lbw of Shikhar Dhawan, this wasn't going to challenge India. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma saw India through with calm half-centuries, even though a struggling Yuvraj Singh manufactured some late drama. The only thing missing on another satisfying night for India was a push for a big net run-rate boost. If they play like they have been playing, they might not even need to think of the net run-rate.

Final Report : India Wins.