India keep Chanderpaul at bay to take invincible 2-0 lead

Cuttack, Jan 24: Another valiant effort from Shivnaraine Chanderpaul went in vain as India spun to victory at the Barabati stadium here defeating West Indies by 20 runs after reaching a competitive 189 batting first on a wicket that promised to decay with time.

India set West Indies a target of 190 to win after being bowled out for 189 off 48.2 overs on a track that was becoming increasingly slow and difficult. In reply the West Indian innings crumbled like cookies before a mesmerising spin attack from Sachin Tendulkar and Ramesh Powar for 169 off 48.2 overs.

Earlier, the pace of Indian innings was set by pint sized keeper Dinesh Karthik and a late innings high-flier from Ajit Agarkar.

Set an asking rate of 3.80, the Caribbean reply started with a jolt as their key batsman Chris Gayle got out as early as the second over.

The need of the hour was a sheet anchor around whom the innings would revolve. In Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, who has a fancy for the Indian conditions, the Caribbeans found one. He was the last one out for 67 when Zaheer Khan rattled his stumps to give India an indifatigable 2-0 lead in the four match series. His innings was embellished with four boundaries.

The men who did the trick for India were Sachin Tendulkar and Ramesh Powar. While the little master again showed he also had a golden arm returning with figures of 25 for two off eight overs, the chubby offie finished with three for 42 off his 10 to tilt the scales in India's favour. While Sachin accounted for Smith and Bradshaw, Powar got Bravo, Morton and Ramadin to break the middle order of the West Indian attack.

Another audacious, but lone, battle from Chanderpaul went in vain. Chanderpaul began where he left last match, only thing was that he had changed gears. From overdrive he had gone into the role of a primitive accumulator, a hunter looking for loose deliveries and killing them instantly. He fed on Indian weakness and increased Dravid's frustration even as wickets tumbled.

If the Indian innings was marked by the decision of captain Rahul Dravid to bat first on a tricky and slow wicket, it was also marked by the arrival of Devon Powell for the West Indians.

Several balls kept low and some died on the batsmen. Powell judged the track perfectly, kept it full and let the demons on the track do the rest.

While the top order (Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar) perished to some absurd strokeplay, Dravid was foxed by a well disguised slower that saw him playing all over.

Reeling at 90 for seven with Daren Powell boring a hole in the heart of Indian batting with career best figures of four for 27, the hosts staged a recovery with Karthik and Ajit Agarkar (40) putting on 62 runs for the eighth wicket.

Powel who came in to bowl in the ninth over claimed three wickets within the first four overs to reduce any chance of an imposing Indian total. His victims included Nagpur match hero Sourav Ganguly (13), Sachin Tendulkar (0) and Rahul Dravid (22), Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik is soon gaining the reputation of being the crisis man in the Indian batting line-up. An unlikely hero, who has emerged out of the shadows in South Africa with a simple and minimalist style of accumulating runs when opportunity presented itself, asserted his utility as a batsman, if not as a keeper, reaching the maiden fifty of his ODI career off 72 deliveries in his eighth appearance for India.

He was finally accounted for by Bradshaw for 63, which besides being his highest in the ODIs, will be remembered for the temperament and the pace at which it was played.

As wickets tumbled, Karthik culled runs at a healthy strike-rate of 72. The innings was studded with seven hits to the fence. His 62 run partnership with Ajit Agarkar for the eighth wicket lent some respectability to the Indian score.

Ajit Agarkar's little cameo of 40 (run out by Bravo) towards the end helped India's score get some respectability. The batsman played fluently on either side of the wicket to help the hosts reach some respectability in his late flourish. His innings lasted 47 balls and was studded with four boundaries.

The West Indian innings began with a jolt. The Champions Trophy man of the tournament, who had made his aggressive intent clear by smashing Zaheer Khan to the mid wicket boundary of the opening ball, played Ajit Agarkar from within the crease to be caught leg before for five. Chanderpaul was his cool and composed self as he kept the scoreboard moving with singles and twos. Devon Smith (15), who walked in to replace Gayle, added 36 runs for the second wicket with Chanderpaul before he got run out due to a sheer piece of bad luck.

Raina, who had come in place of Agarkar, threw one to the keeper's end from third man to see the batsman unable to retrieve after setting off for a second.

The visitors were 41 for 1 in the 15th over, and skipper Rahul Dravid introduced spin in the form of Harbhajan Singh and the turbanator immediately delivered.

Marlon Samuels (1) played half forward and only succeeded in getting an inside edge to be scooped up by Gautam Gambhir at forward short leg.

Dwayne Bravo (31) straightway went into an offence mode, giving the charge to Joginder and executing a couple of boundaries of Harbhajan Singh to put on 43 for the third wicket with Chanderpaul as the pair looked to be taking the game away from India.

Bravo hit four boundaries and also sent Ramesh Powar into the stand to bring off the first six of the match, before falling to the same bowler, as Gambhir took another catch.

Runako Morton (0) fell soon after, as West Indies saw half their batsmen into the pavilion with 89 on the board. Chanderpaul and Dwayne Smith (25) were involved in a 50 run stand for the sixth wicket, before the latter perished mishitting Sachin Tendulkar to give Powar a catch at deep mid wicket.

Even as Chanderpaul looked solid at the other end, Dinesh Ramdin (6) gave Powar a charge, missed the line and saw his stumps uprooted.

Earlier, Karthik, who produced an intelligent knock that could well seal him a World Cup berth, was the only batsman, apart from Rahul Dravid, who played according to the demands of the pitch.

He was cautious and looked to play with the full face of the bat.

If Gautam Gambhir (2) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (6) brought about their own peril, trying to negotiate deliveries that were bowled down the leg side, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were outdone by the dual-pace of the wicket.

Gambhir and Ganguly after raising visions of a steady opening partnership in Nagpur came out to open again. But Gambhir(2) was the first to make the journey back to the dressing room as he needlessly tried to flick a short of length delivery from Ian Bradshaw that was straying down the leg side and ended up giving a catch behind the wicket.

Ganguly, who stayed at the wicket for 16 balls and looked confident taking sharp singles and letting go a trademark drive on the off-side, was caught off-guard by a Darren Powell delivery that rose from the goodlength spot. His short arm pull went straight down Morton's throat in short mid-wicket. Skipper Dravid had in the meantime settled to a nice rhythm hitting three boundaries off his legs.

Tendulkar was the next to go. Powell frustrated the little master with three full-length stuff and then let go a short one that stopped onto Tendulkar, making the master blaster take a false drive and loop the ball to mid-on. He did not open his account, but entered the record books with most number of ODI appearances counting 376 eclipsing Sanath Jayasurya's record.

Joginder Sharma's inclusion as an all-rounder will come under the scanner as the Haryana bat showed little resistance on a demanding track. Dhoni's poor form resurfaced after the splash at Nagpur.

Harbhajan Singh (7) and Power (5) did what was expected---try and perish.


Following is the final scoreboard of the second ODI match between India West Indies at Barabati stadium.

India innings (50 overs maximum) Sourav Ganguly c Morton b Powell 13 Gautam Gambhir c Ramdin b Bradshaw 2 Rahul Dravid b Powell 22 Sachin Tendulkar c DS Smith b Powell 0 Dinesh Karthik b Bradshaw 63 Mahendra S Dhoni c&b DR Smith 6 Joginder Sharma b Powell 1 Harbhajan Singh b Bravo 6 Ajit Agarkar run out (Bravo) 40 Ramesh Powar b Bravo 5 Zaheer Khan not out 7 Extras (LB 3, W 20, NB 1) 24 Total (all out; 48.2 overs) 189 Fall of wickets:1/4, 2/35, 3/35, 4/46, 5/66, 6/69, 7/90, 8/152, 9/163 Bowling: Ian Bradshaw 10-1-38-2 Jerome Taylor 10-1-38-0 Darren Powell 10-2-27-4 Dwayne Smith 9-1-34-1 Dwayne Bravo 8.2-1-36-2 Chris Gayle 1-0-13-0 West Indies innings (Target: 190 runs from 50 overs) Chris Gayle lbw b Agarkar 5 S Chanderpaul b Khan 67 Devon Smith run out (sub SK Raina/Dhoni) 15 Marlon Samuels c Gambhir b Harbhajan Singh 1 Dwayne Bravo c Gambhir b Powar 31 Runako Morton b Powar 0 Dwayne Smith c Powar b Tendulkar 25 Denesh Ramdin b Powar 6 Ian Bradshaw c Gambhir b Tendulkar 2 Daren Powell run out(Joginder Sharma/Dhoni)1 Jerome Taylor not out 2 Extras (B 6, LB 3, W 5) 14 Total (all out; 48.2 overs) 169 Fall of wickets 1/5, 2/41, 3/42, 4/85, 5/89, 6/139, 7/151, 8/163, 9/166, 10/169 Bowling : Zaheer Khan 8.2-0-25-1 Ajit Agarkar 8-2-23-1 Joginder Sharma 4-0-16-0 Harbhajan Singh 10-3-29-1 Ramesh Powar 10-0-42-3 Sachin Tendulkar 8-0-25-2

UNI