27 June : Yuvraj Singh hit a rollicking 131-run knock as India pipped West Indies by 20 runs in the thrilling first cricket one-day international to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series at Kingston on Friday.
Leaving behind their pathetic show in the Twenty20 World Cup, Indian batsmen came firing on all cylinders as they trampled the West Indies attack to reach an intimidating 339 for six after opting to bat at Sabina Park.
However defending even such a massive total proved quite a task for the Indians as they just about managed to bowl the hosts out for 319 in 48.1 overs.It was a spirited chase by the hosts, for whom Shivnarain Chanderpaul top scored with 63 and Denesh Ramdin played a sparkling 29-run knock down the order.
Earlier, Yuvraj treated the host bowlers with utter disdain and clobbered them for seven huge sixes and 10 boundaries apart from sharing a crucial 135-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (67) to shape the Indian innings.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41), Yusuf Pathan (40 unbeaten) and Harbhajan Singh (21 not out) also chipped in with useful contributions.With the wicket of Chanderpaul in the 36th over it looked all over for the hosts but their lower order batted with steely resolve and made it an edge-of-the-seat contest.
West Indies required 21 off the last two overs with one wicket in hand but Ashish Nehra removed Ramdin in the first ball of the 49th over to bring a huge relief for his side.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and Runako Morton (42) did well and got the starts for the West Indies but could not convert those into big knocks.Jerome Taylor (21) and David Bernard (19), batting at number seven and nine respectively did their best but their effort went in vain in the end.
For India, Nehra (3/49) and Yusuf Pathan (3/56) took three wickets each.Earlier, Yuvraj hit a blazing century and Karthik smashed a brilliant 67 to resurrect the India’s innings, which was rocked by short-pitched bowling, led by Jerome Taylor.
Early dismissals of Gautam Gambhir (13) and Rohit Sharma (4) had left India reeling at 32 for two but Yuvraj and Karthik batted with patience to not only save India from more jolts but also laid a solid platform for a good finish.
After guiding his side to a safe position, Yuvraj opened his arms to good effects and punished the host bowlers all over the park en route to his 12th ODI century.
He hit both Taylor and Chris Gayle for two sixes each and also added 86 runs for the fourth wicket with Dhoni.
Yuvraj batted fearlessly as he hit Lionel Baker for two fours and a six to reach 98 and then stole a single off Taylor to complete his magnificent century.
The Punjab southpaw was looking unstoppable but Dwayne then dealt the visitors twin-blow by dismissing Yuvraj and Ravinder Jadeja (0) off successive balls in the 39th over.