1st ODI: India v West Indies at Jamshedpur, 6 Nov 2002 CricInfo Live Report

1st ODI: India v West Indies at Jamshedpur, 6 Nov 2002
Santhosh S

India innings: 25 Overs, End of Innings,
West Indies innings: 25 Overs, End of game,
Pre-game: Toss & Teams,

WEST INDIES PULL OFF A THRILLING LAST-BALL VICTORY
Ramnaresh Sarwan hit a boundary off the last ball of the match bowled by Ajit Agarkar, with three runs required, to snatch a thrilling victory. West Indies won the game by four wickets, amidst confusion after play was held up due to the irate and disappointed crowd throwing bottles into the ground. At the end of the 47th over, players went off the ground, only to return ten minutes later.

Chanderpaul (23 off 18 balls) struck three fours in his brief knock, and with West Indies edging close to a victory, skied an easy catch to Ganguly off Nehra in the 49th over. The pressure was mounting, and in the mayhem that followed, West Indies lost the wicket of Ridley Jacobs (0) in the final over – run out by Agarkar off his own bowling. It all boiled down to the final ball, after new batsman Nagamootoo could only scramble a single off the fifth ball.

With tension mounting on both sides, Sarwan’s eyes lit up seeing a low full toss from Agarkar and duly smashed it over extra cover for four - to start the celebration in the West Indies camp. Sarwan remained unbeaten on 83 off 89 balls, hitting six boundaries and three big sixes. He was duly named Man of the Match.

Earlier, Hinds looked well set to reach his hundred and was in an attacking mood, lofting Kumble for his second six. The third wicket partnership of Hinds and Sarwan yielded 87 runs. Hinds enjoying all the good fortune, survived a third time, Kaif dropping an easy catch at covers. All the good fortune couldn’t take him to the coveted hundred though; Hinds fell seven runs short of a century, caught behind off Nehra. Hinds made 93 off 107 balls, hitting a dozen boundaries and two sixes.

Five runs later, Hooper (4) hit the ball down Yadav’s throat at long on, off the bowling of Sehwag. Sarwan and Chanderpaul took them to 271/4 at the end of the 47th over, with 13 runs away from win. It was then the bottles started flying into the ground.

SAMUELS, HINDS PUT WEST INDIES IN A STRONG POSITION
West Indies are making good progress chasing an imposing target of 284 runs for victory. At the end of the 25th over, West Indies are 152/2, with opener Wavell Hinds unbeaten on 64 off 63 balls and Ramnaresh Sarwan unbeaten on nine.

Ajit Agarkar seems to be having a good day today, after scoring 95 valuable runs in the India innings, Agarkar claimed the wicket of Chris Gayle (7) caught by Jai P Yadav at mid-off.

Marlon Samuels, fresh from his maiden Test century at Eden Gardens, carried on in the rich vein, striking the ball freely. There is a certain grace to his batting, the flick of the wrists and the on driving a class above the rest. Samuels punctuated his knock (51 off 60 balls) with eight strokes past the ropes. Samuels and Hinds added 86 runs in 15.4 overs for the second wicket partnership. It was Anil Kumble who broke the partnership, Samuels bowled off an inside edge.

Hinds, had earlier survived a very confident shout for caught behind off the bowling of Nehra. The batsman had made just five runs, when umpire Asoka de Silva failed to see the thick edge. Hinds celebrated his good fortune, smacking three boundaries off the same over.

Debutant Jai P Yadav, bowling military medium pace, could have had his first international wicket, but he failed to hold on to a simple return catch offered by Hinds. The left-handed opener was then on 28, and made most of the fortune coming his way. He has so far struck eleven boundaries, and a huge six off Kumble.

The pitch has eased out, and looks a very good one to bat on. Both Samuels and Hinds, showed good technique, using their feet to the spinners. In comparison to India's score of 124/2 at the end of 25 overs, West Indies seems to be cruising.

INDIA SET WEST INDIES A STIFF TARGET AT JAMSHEDPUR
A scintillating 95 off 102 balls (11 fours, 2 sixes) from Ajit Agarkar, and a late flourish from Rahul Dravid (46 off 42 balls) and Mohammad Kaif (31 off 18 balls) helped India to 283/6 in 50 overs in the first India-West Indies one-day international being played at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur.

The first wicket to fall after the 25th over was that of Laxman. The Hyderabad stylist and Agarkar added a valuable 98 runs in 20 overs for the third wicket partnership before Mahendra Nagamootoo cleaned up the former(47 off 67 balls); India losing their third wicket in the 32nd over with the score on 147.

Rahul Dravid came out to join Agarkar and the two batsmen took command quickly. Agarkar, who had gone past his second one-day fifty, began to get on top of the bowling. Relishing the opportunity of playing at number three, the Mumbaikar played some rousing shots, including a stunning six over mid-wicket off leg-spinner Nagamootoo.

But with Agarkar just five runs short of a well-deserved maiden ODI century, he had the mortification of falling to Pedro Collins, caught by Chris Gayle in the covers. The fourth wicket partnership had yielded 75 runs.

Yuvraj Singh failed for once, making just four runs, caught by Gayle off the bowling of Carl Hooper. One run later, debutant Jai P Yadav (0) found his middle stump pegged back by a straight delivery from Dillon as India were suddenly in some trouble at 236/6 in the 46th over.

Kaif is, however, very good at improvising, and he proved his value once again. In the company of Dravid, Kaif went on to add 47 runs in just 28 balls to propel India to a sizeable score. The last over bowled by Drakes went for 16 runs, with Kaif finding the ropes three times.

AGARKAR, LAXMAN IN FINE FORM AT JAMSHEDPUR
India are 124/2 at the end of the 25th over in the first one-day international being played at Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. Ajit Agarkar is unbeaten on 39 off 43 balls (5 fours, 1 six) and VVS Laxman is batting on 37 off 49 balls (4 fours). The two batsmen have so far added 75 runs for the fifth wicket partnership.

Virender Sehwag started off in fine style, scoring boundaries off Pedro Collins and Mervyn Dillon. He had raced to 28 off just 26 balls, and fell to a Vasbert Drakes bouncer; mistiming a bouncer and skying an easy catch to the bowler. India lost their first wicket with the score on 43 in the ninth over.

It was indeed a big surprise to see Ajit Agarkar walk out to bat number three. Six runs later, skipper Sourav Ganguly (16 off 33 balls) was cleaned up by Collins – bowling over the wicket.

Agarkar started off cautiously, but then, opened up to strike a few heavy blows. In the 19th over, Agarkar pulled Drakes over mid-wicket for a huge six to step up the tempo. Laxman got off the mark with a flowing cover drive, and has played some fine shots. India is all set for a major onslaught with the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Mohd Kaif to follow.

INDIA ELECT TO BAT IN THE FIRST ODI AT JAMSHEDPUR
Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat against West Indies in the first one-day international match being played at Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. The match referee Mike Proctor decided that the game would start 15 minutes early.

Jai P Yadav makes his ODI debut in this game. Ajit Agarkar replaces Javagal Srinath in the Indian team. VVS Laxman also makes his way back to the one-day team.

West Indies have brought in fast bowlers Vasbert Drakes and Pedro Collins. Leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo bolsters the bowling line-up. It is bright and sunny conditions in Jamshedpur. The pitch looks like an ideal one for one-day cricket, and should produce a lot of runs.

India team: V Sehwag, *SC Ganguly, +R Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Kaif, Jai P Yadav, A Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, AB Agarkar, A Nehra.

West Indies team: CH Gayle, WW Hinds, RR Sarwan, S Chanderpaul, *CL Hooper, MN Samuels, +RD Jacobs, M Dillon, PT Collins, MV Nagamootoo, VC Drakes.

Umpires: AV Jayaprakash and EAR de Silva (SL), TV Umpire: I Sivaram, Match Referee: MJ Procter (SA)