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| Virat In Full Flow |
Team India kept its chances alive for a place in the
final of the West Indies Tri-Nation ODI Cricket Series-2013 by crushing West
Indies by 102 runs in the last league match between the two in Port
of Spain , Trinidad yesterday. West
Indies won the toss again and following the Kingston ‘trend’ elected to field first. But
this time Team India was ready and did not bother about the ‘trend’ already
demolished by Sri Lanka at their cost only the other day, though there were the
usual scares and hiccups before stand-in captain Virat Kohli unleashed a
breathtaking batting display. The opening duo Shikhar Dhawan (69) and Rohit
Sharma (46) staged a rollicking partnership of 123 runs and after Dhawan was
the first out wickets fell in regular intervals letting WI come back into the
game with India
at 168/4. This was a crucial juncture as India had to win the game possibly
with a bonus point to stay afloat.
Virat Kohli
proved to be the inspiration behind a regrouped India as he led from the front. Starting
cautiously Virat opened out with a brilliant array of effortless shot all
around the ground and got out only in the last ball bowled notching up his 14th
ODI century in just 81 balls. He made exactly 102 runs—exactly the margin of
victory for India
finally. Team India finally set a mammoth target of 312 in fifty overs for the hosts amassing more than 80 runs in the last seven overs.
Correcting the
mistake made in the encounter with Sri Lanka Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was taken back
to open the Indian attack and the seameer immediately justified his place by
capturing 3 crucial wickets. West Indies started
their batting shakily and just when they achieved a postion of relative strength
at 56/2 a heavy downpour disrupted the proceedings. Duckworth and Lewis rules came
into play thereafter setting a target of 274 runs in 39 overs for WI. The hosts
suffered their usual habit of losing wickets in heaps maybe due to rain interruption
or the D/L or an inspired Indian attack. They got all out for 171 in the 34th
over rewarding India
with a desperately needed bonus point. Although costly at first Umesh Yadav chipped
in with 3 wickets too, and Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja evenly shared the
others wickets to fall.
If Sri Lanka win their match against the hosts
tomorrow they will have 9 points (10 with a bonus point) and will sail into the
final provided they defeat India
in the last league match on Tuesday. If they lose tomorrow Sri Lanka would
still remain in contention on an Indian defeat and be eliminated otherwise. With
9 points WI will the top team to qualify on a victory over Sri Lanka and
on a defeat all three teams will be in with a chance. A short tournament deadlocked in a big way!
In a virtual
final before the Final India with 5 points have to beat Sri Lanka on Tuesday, bonus point
or not, to be in with a chance to qualify. Back with a vibrant team spirit and
winning ways the ICC Champions Trophy winner Team India
is set to be a huge challenge for Sri Lanka to overcome.
