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| Shikhar Dhawan Blazing Away |
India beat West Indies by 5 wickets in the final
one day international in Kanpur
today and won the three-match ODI Series 2-1. The Indian victory came largely
thanks to opener Shikhar Dhawan who scored a magnificent century (119 off 95
balls)—his 5th in the year 2013. Team India has also achieved the 6th
successive ODI Series victory in 2013 (January to November) starting with the India-England Series (3-1), ICC Champions Trophy in England, Tri-Nation Series in West
Indies, India-Zimbabwe Series in Zimbabwe (5-0), India-Australia Series (3-2) and
this India-West Indies Series (2-1). Team India has kept the victory momentum
going despite stalwarts leaving the team in a phased manner and the consistent
weakness in the bowling front. What India
do next in South Africa
will be both expecting and exciting.
In this day
match that started in hazy wintry conditions the first hour was going to be
crucial. Indian captain MS Dhoni elected to bat first after winning the toss
mainly due to this reason and also because of a very healthy Indian chasing
record. The Dhoni gamble gave him just one wicket despite fact that the Indian
pacers put West Indies batsmen under a lot of
pressure for quite some time. Continuing his good form of the last match Powell
(70 off 81) crafted a fast-paced partnership of 117 runs with Samuels (71 off
93) and West Indies looked good for a huge
total. However, Indian spinners Ashwin and Jadeja turned the tide in India’s favor
taking three quick wickets. West Indies yet
again averted a habitual collapse as the heroes of the last encounter DM Bravo
(51 off 53) and Darren Sammy (37 off 38) helped their team to attain a
competitive score of 263/5 in fifty overs.
The Indian chase
looked rather easy as Shikhar Dhawan blasted away with magical boundaries and
Yuvraj Singh (55 off 74) found his form to the delight of his fans. Raina made it easier still playing a cameo of
34 in 43 balls without any kind of pressure. Although both settled batsmen,
Yuvraj and Raina, got out with India
still needing more than fifty runs captain Dhoni and Jadeja ensured a victory
without any fuss reaching 266/5 with nearly four overs to spare. Dhawan
deservedly won the man of the match and Virat Kohli the man of the series
awards. The Scorecard:
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