India pull off stunning win

India managed to hold their nerves to pull off a thrilling 20 run win against the West Indies in the first ODI in Kingston.

West Indies openers Gayle and Morton have gone off to a great start against India in pursuit of a daunting target.

Both were sent back to the hut by Nehra and Yusuf Pathan respectively.
Ramnaresh Sarwan failed to make his ground in a bid to complete a risky and almost non-existent double.

Ishant Sharma gave India more to cheer about when he sent back the dangerous Dwayne Bravo.

India are in control of the first ODI with Yusuf Pathan getting rid of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who threatened to take the West Indies to victory.

Yusuf then struck for a second time, trapping Jerome Taylor plumn in front of the wickets and the writing was all but on the wall.

India are 339 for six
India rode a Yuvraj Singh hundred to amass a challenging total against the West Indies in the first ODI in Kingston.

Dwayne Bravo snapped up two wickets off two balls to put the brakes on India, who were sailing away towards a huge total against the West Indiesbut MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan carried on at a good rate and helped the visitors get past the 300 run mark.
In fact, Dhoni looked in great touch after a long while and with Yusuf garnered some quick runs.

A sensational 12th ODI hundred by Yuvraj put India in the driver's seat against the West Indies at Kingston.

Dinesh Karthik succumbed to another of his cheeky shots when he tried to scoop a delivery from David Bernard, which was easily held by Denesh Ramdin.

Yuvraj Singh however, is on fire at Sabina Park, stunning the West Indies attack with a sudden flurry of sixes as India look themselves at last.

A fine fifty by Dinesh Karthik in his first innings as an opener for India helped settle some nerves in the dressing-room.

Karthik and Yuvraj added 50 runs from the 10 overs together. However, Yuvraj is no where near his fluent best. The onus is on Karthik to bat through the innings, who brought up a well-desreved fifty with a cheeky shot, that sailed beyond the ropes for a six.

The West Indies have done their homework alright. Rohit Sharma became the second batsman after Gautam Gambhir to be bounced out.

The short ball continued to haunt India as Gambhir fell to one from Jerome Taylor in Kingston before Sharma succumbed to a short delivery, trying to pull it from outside the off-stump, as Dwayne Bravo completed a brilliant catch at fine leg.

The Toss
India skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first in the first ODI against the West Indies on Friday.

Brief Preview
With the ICC World Twenty20 debacle still fresh on their mind, India will regrouped for the 50-over format on Friday, after a nine-day break from competitive cricket.
A tired Indian team suffered a seven-wicket tharshing at the hands of Christ Gayle's men in the ICC World T20 in England.

The squad is sans big-wigs like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan, who are nursing various injuries, but promises to put up a goos show against the hosts with the return of pacer Ashish Nehra and some new talents in the four-match ODI series.

The Indian team is packed with all rounders in Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja besides the likes of star batsmen Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma.
Their bowling department, as admitted by West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, will be the main concern for the home side, especially the spinners.
Teams

India: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ashish Nehra.

West Indies: 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Runako Morton, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Darren Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 David Bernard, 10 Suleiman Benn, 11 Lionel Baker

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Gayle: India eyeing T20 revenge

West Indies not only beat India in the Super-Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup but also laid bare their frailty against rising deliveries which was exploited well by England.

Gayle believes the side under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, however depleted, would seek to settle score in the four-match ODI series starting on Friday.

"We have a big game on Friday against India. We're all looking forward to it," Gayle said.

"India is always a good One Day team and they will be looking to beat us based on their Twenty20 disappointment," he added.

Gayle said even though India would be without star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the bunch is still good enough to make life miserable for the hosts.
"Sehwag and Tendulkar are two world class players but they still have quality players to step up and they have a lot of experience in one day cricket.

They still have quality players in Yuvraj (Singh), Harbhajan Singh, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, (Ishant) Sharma and a lot of guys to give us a lot of trouble," Gayle said.
"So it's not a situation where we will say it's a walkover. It's never a walkover against India," he added.

Having led the side to the semifinals of the ICC World T20, Gayle said he was happy with the support from all quarters.

"The support has been brilliant. The guys gave me their full support and I gave them the same sort of support and respect which they deserve. It's been enjoyable.
"Captaining the West Indies has done a lot for me individually and I'm really happy and grateful to be captaining West Indies and the entire region," Gayle said.
"It's a privilege and hopefully I can continue from strength to strength and give everyone something to cheer about. Hopefully we can wrap up this series and am looking forward for a lot of things," Gayle said.

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