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 In a highly dramatic start to the one-day series, West Indies pulled off a sensational last-ball victory against India here today after crowd trouble almost resulted in the match being awarded to the tourists. Ramnaresh Sarwan hit a boundary off the last ball to snatch a four-wicket win for his side after West Indies messed up a favourable run-ball equation in the last three overs.
With West Indies needing 13 runs from the last three overs to overtake India’s 283 for six, a section of the crowd, sensing a defeat for the home team, began throwing missiles onto the ground, holding up the game. Repeated requests from the officials and players failed to calm the restive crowd and the two teams walked back to pavilion raising fears of the match being awarded to the touring side as it had happened at the Eden Gardens in the semifinals of the 1996 World Cup against Sri Lanka.
Even as the official broadcasters announced the abandonment of the match and West Indies being declared winners, sanity prevailed among the spectators and the two teams came out to complete the remainder of the match. What followed saw an incredible comeback by India as Ashish Nehra gave away just one run in the 49th over while claiming the wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul which left West Indies requiring six runs from the last over.
 Three singles and a run-out later, Sarwan faced Agarkar for the last delivery and smashed the full-toss through covers to bring up the thrilling victory for West Indies. “I was looking for him (Agarkar) to bowl a yorker and I thought I will hit him in the covers,” Sarwan, later declared man of the match for his unbeaten 83, said. While it was celebration time for Sarwan, disappointment writ large on Agarkar’s face, the Mumbai all-rounder having played a career-best knock of 95 earlier in the day to propel India to an imposing total.
Sarwan’s knock also eclipsed a fine innings by team-mate Wavell Hinds who kept his side in the hunt through the innings with a brilliant 93. Hinds laid the foundation of the West Indies run chase in an 86-run second wicket stand with Marlon Samuels who came up with sterling 51. Earlier, India elected to bat and overcame the early loss of openers Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly to post a good score on a pitch that had been the subject of intense discussion before the match.
 Agarkar, who was surprisingly sent to bat at number three, and V V S Laxman put on 98 runs for the third wicket, the stylish Hyderabad batsman compiling an impressive 47 before being clean bowled by Mahendra Nagamootoo. Agarkar found another fine partner in Rahul Dravid, who remained unbeaten on 46, and the two continued to score at a very decent rate. Agarkar smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his 102-ball knock as he ensured that India did not miss the services of Sachin Tendulkar who has been ruled out of the one-day series due to a hamstring injury.
Agarkar, who came tantalisingly close to scoring his maiden one-day hundred, was finally out as the fourth wicket when he gave a simple catch to Chris Gayle off Pedro Collins. India lost Yuvraj Singh and debutant J P Yadav in quick succession but Dravid and Mohammad Kaif stopped the slide and added 44 runs in the last four overs that proved crucial in the end. Kaif once again came up with a cameo knock, scoring 31 from just 18 balls with five fours, three of them coming in the last over of the innings by Vasbert Drakes which produced 17 runs for India.
 The West Indian innings did not start on a very promising note with Gayle being dismissed for just seven runs as Agarkar carried his good performance with the bat to the bowling department too. But Hinds and Samuels put up a determined partnership that not only prevented quick loss of wickets but also produced runs at a brisk rate. The two scored at more than the required run rate to lay a sound platform for the West Indies.
Particularly impressive was the way these two batsmen dealt with the dreaded spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Refusing to buckle down against the spinners who had often troubled the West Indian batsmen in the Test series, the two launched an offensive against them, never allowing them to settle down to any kind of rhythm. The battering that the two spinners took reflected in their figures. While Kumble finished with one for 48 from seven overs, Harbhajan Singh went wicketless in his nine overs and conceded 68 runs, including 17 in the 47th over of the innings that swung the game decisively in favour of West Indies.
 The most impressive of the Indian bowlers was part-time spinner Virender Sehwag who claimed one wicket for 37 runs from his quota of ten overs. Sehwag put the brakes on the West Indies scoring right from his first over and started building pressure on the tourists who were going on smoothly at 142 for two at the halfway stage. Samuels was bowled off an inside edge against Kumble in the 21st over but West Indies batsmen went on with their job, hitting three fours in the next four balls. Hinds even lofted Kumble for a sixer long on before Sehwag was introduced into the attack. Sehwag and Kumble sneaked in five quiet overs before Hinds hit the leg-spinner for his second six in a bid to break the shackles. Hinds, who was dropped by Kaif on 89, however, could not complete a well-deserved century and was caught behind by Dravid off
Nehra.
West Indian captain Carl Hooper was out cheaply for four but Sarwan and Chanderpaul batted with a lot of grit to bring their side within niffing distance of victory. Scorecard |
