Dhawan powers India to series win over West Indies

For the full scorecard, CLICK HERE India produced another sloppy performance in the field but Shikhar Dhawan’s fifth ODI century in 2013 more than made up for it and the hosts crushed West Indies by five wickets in Kanpur to claim the series 2-1. India was a pale shadow of the side that was clearly the best fielding team in the Champions Trophy earlier this year. There were dropped catches, misfields and overthrows but the West Indies failed to take full advantage. Kieran Powell and Marlon Samuels both managed half-centuries but neither could push on to three figures and it took a finishing kick from the two Darrens - Sammy and Bravo – to take them to 263 for 5. [caption id=“attachment_1253379” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Shikhar Dhawan made 119 as India romped home. BCCI[/caption] For once, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both failed, but Dhawan’s barnstorming 119 and a gritty 55 from Yuvraj Singh killed any faint hopes West Indies might have had about producing a second-successive upset. This was Dhawan at his best on a good batting track. He was aggressive from the start, plundering three fours from Jason Holder’s first over. It was to set the tempo for an innings in which he scored mostly in boundaries, with plenty of his trade mark flashing drives and cuts. Dhawan took 43 balls for his first fifty and just 30 for his second as he took apart some lethargic and sloppy bowling. Of his first 101 runs, 72 came in boundaries. A late loss of wickets left it to MS Dhoni to hit the winning runs, which he did with 23 balls to spare. For the West Indies, only Sunil Narine and Ravi Rampaul had economy rates under six, with Narine the only bowler to go for less than five an over. Rampaul accounted for Rohit and Kohli, getting both with outswingers, while Narine snapped up Yuvraj in his final over. The win gives the Indian team it’s six series/tournament win in a row, which equals their best ever run. The last time India managed such a run of success was between August 2008 and September 2009. Powell (70) carried on his good form from the last match and registered his second fifty of the series. Together with Samuels (71), he shared a 117-run second-wicket partnership to lay the foundation for West Indies after the visitors were put into bat by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Comfortably placed at 137 for one at one stage, West Indies looked set for a big score but India staged a comeback with quick wickets. It took a rapid-fire partnership of 67 from 8.1 overs by Sammy and Darren Bravo to even take them to a respectable total. For the hosts, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers with figures of two for 45 from his quota of 10 overs. India’s chase did not start on a very good note even though Dhawan made his intentions clear in just the second over of the innings when he clobbered Jason Holder thrice to the fence. India lost Rohit Sharma in the fifth over with just 20 runs on the board. Rohit gave a straight-forward catch to Dwayne Bravo at the first slip while trying to push at an away going delivery from Ravi Rampaul. Virat Kohli looked in great touch during his brief 19-run stay but he too was undone by Rampaul’s probing length outside the off stump. While trying to leave a delivery at the last moment, the ball just brushed Kohli’s bat on to the safe hands of wicket-keeper Johnson Charles. But from there on it was a Dhawan-Yuvraj show as the duo went about its business in style and shared the run-a-ball century partnership. Dhawan was the aggressive one among the two. The hallmark of Dhawan’s innings was his elegant drives through the extra cover region and short-arm pulls. By the time Yuvraj and Dhawan got out, they had e nsured the series-clinching victory for India. Yuvraj was caught by Dwayne Bravo at the slip off Sunil Narine in the 31st over but not before the left-hander reached his fifty which was laced with seven fours. Dhawan finally departed in the 38th over, caught by Dwayne Bravo of his own bowling as the bat turned in his hand. Dhoni (23 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (2 not out) completed the formalities for India with consummate ease. (with inputs from PTI)