CricketViewer.com

India’s Sachin Tendulkar celebrated his return to international cricket with an unbeaten 141 on Thursday, but the masterly knock went in vain as the West Indies were declared winner of the rain-marred One-day International (ODI) match on a higher scoring rate here at the Kinrara Oval.

Chasing a massive 309-5 in 50 overs in the second match of the tri-series tournament, the West Indies were 141 for 2 after 20 overs when a steady drizzle soaked the ground, forcing the match to be abandoned.

The West Indies were deemed to have won by 29 runs, as they needed only 112 for 2 after 20 overs to tie the match under the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) formula.

The credit for the victory clearly went to opener Chris Gayle who slaughtered the Indian attack, making 45 runs in 35 balls with nine fours. He was caught behind trying to slash a rising delivery by Rudra Pratap Singh.

The ferocity of the attack was clear from the fact that fellow opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored only 6 of the 32 runs in the first-wicket partnership. Opening bowler Irfan Pathan went for 22 runs in his first two overs before being taken out.

Ramnaresh Sarwan made 37 in 49 balls and captain Brian Lara smashed 27 in 30 balls with four boundaries to help accelerate the scoring rate to 7.14 per over.

The unexpected West Indies victory overshadowed Tendulkar’s 40th ODI century, which regaled a few hundred expatriate Indians occupying the largely empty stands at the Kinrara Oval.

It was the first full innings by one-day cricket’s leading run scorer since his shoulder surgery in March.

His knock on Thursday was built around a 125-run, second-wicket partnership with Pathan, who smashed 64 runs to justify his shift up the batting order to the No. 3 slot to take advantage of his hard hitting.

Captain Rahul Dravid (26) and Tendulkar laid the foundation for the massive score with a 75-run first wicket partnership. Tendulkar then teamed up with Suresh Raina, who made 34 from 29 balls, for a 68-run, fifth wicket partnership in the final phase of the game.

The last 10 overs produced 89 runs, largely due to a display of power-hitting from Tendulkar, whose 148-ball knock included 13 fours and five sixes.

Earlier yesterday, Dravid won the toss and elected to bat first in the day-night match, mindful of the West Indies collapse under lights in their opening match against Australia on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

India won toss

India

*R Dravid lbw b Smith 26

S R Tendulkar not out 141

I K Pathan b Gayle 64

V Sehwag b Taylor 9

†M S Dhoni b Taylor 2

S K Raina c Smith b Taylor 34

M Kaif not out 1

Extras (lb14, w9, nb9) 32

Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 309

Did not bat: A B Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, M M Patel, R P Singh

Fall: 1-75, 2-200, 3-223, 4-227, 5-295

Bowling: Taylor 10-1-64-3 (2nb, 2w); Edwards 6-0-44-0 (2nb, 3w); Bradshaw 10-0-44-0 (1w); Smith 7-0-43-1 (1w); Gayle 10-0-46-1 (1nb, 1w); Bravo 7-0-54-0

West Indies

C H Gayle c Dhoni b Patel 45

S Chanderpaul c Patel b Singh 6

R R Sarwan not out 37

*B C Lara not out 27

Extras (lb8, w14, nb4) 26

Total (2 wkts, 20 overs) 141

Did not bat: D J Bravo, W W Hinds, D R Smith, †C S Baugh, I D R Bradshaw, J E Taylor, FH Edwards

Fall: 1-32, 2-98

Bowling: Pathan 2-0-22-0 (2nb, 1w); Agarkar 5-0-24-0 (3w); Singh 4-0-39-1 (2w); Patel 5-0-18-1 (2nb, 1w); Harbhajan Singh 4-0-30-0 (3w)

Result: West Indies won by 29 runs (D/L method)

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar

Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and M R Benson (England). TV umpire: A L Hill (New Zealand). Match referee: B C Broad (England)

Previous match: September 12 Kuala Lumpur, d/n, Australia beat West Indies by 78 runs

Next match: Saturday (tomorrow), Australia v India (Kuala Lumpur, d/n)

Remaining matches: September 18 Australia v West Indies. September 20 India v West Indies. September 22 Australia v India. September 24 Final. All matches at Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur, and day/night fixtures.
Source:The News