Magnificent Dhoni Steers India Home

A brilliant captain’s knock by Mahendra S Dhoni ensured that India got the better of West Indies in a rain affected third One-Day international match played at St. Lucia. India beat the hosts in a convincing fashion, notching up a 6-wicket win in a match that was hugely affected by the rain. The Duckworth-Lewis method was used to draw up the final total, which India managed to pull off with just a single ball to spare. This victory meant that India now have an unassailable lead in this one day series and would be looking forward to another series victory on foreign soil.

Winning the toss, the Indian captain decided to field first as the hosts got of to a great start with Chris Gayle hammering Ishant Sharma to all parts of the field. However, constant rain interruptions and delays ensured that India were able to restrict West Indies to 185 runs. Ramnaresh Sarwan played a brilliant knock of 62 to ensure that West Indies put up a competitive total. Rain was now a big factor in the match as India was set a revised target of 195 runs in 27 overs using the D/L method.

Keeping the rain factor in mind, the Indian openers did not waste time and put on a solid opening partnership of 84 runs with Dinesh Karthik scoring 47 runs and Gambhir scoring 48 in the Indian innings. Once Karthik was run out to a brilliant piece of fielding by Rampaul, the Indian captain took centre stage. However, due to constant rain interruptions the target was revised to 159 runs of 22 overs. Requiring just 64 runs in the last nine overs of the match, the Indian batting line up faltered as Gambhir and Yuvraj made the long walk to the pavilion in quick succession.

With 11 runs to get in the last over of the match and the departure of Rohit Sharma, the whole onus was now on Dhoni to take India home. The Indian captain took control of the match by hitting a massive six of Taylor in the second delivery of the last over to ensure that India went on to win the match. Although the match became a T20 affair, the Indian team can draw some positives from this win. The hosts will consider themselves a touch unlucky due to the D/L method being brought into play. Now the complete focus shifts to the next ODI as the hosts would definitely want to pull one back and even the series.