Dwayne Bravo admits that being entrusted with the final over of Saturday's second One-day International between West Indies and India at Sabina Park was daunting.
Chasing a modest 199 to win, India needed 11 runs off the last over with the last pair of Yuvraj Singh and Munaf Patel at the crease. The two batsmen scrambled a single off the first delivery, and Yuvraj collected successive boundaries to give India a foot in the door.
Bravo however, slammed the door shut, when he bowled Yuvraj Singh with the third-last ball of the match - a slower delivery - to hand West Indies a heart-stopping one-run victory that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.
"When the captain handed me the ball for the final over, I believed I could do it, and still I had confidence after Yuvraj hit me for two fours," remarked Bravo.
"When two runs were needed, the captain asked me what plan I had, and I told him I was missing the length with a yorker, and I thought a slower ball would be appropriate.
"Yuvraj was using the pace well to score and I felt a slower ball would have been the best choice at that time, and Chris Gayle came over and confirmed that a slower ball was the right choice. I took his advice, and I bowled a slower ball, and the rest is history."
Ian Bradshaw collected three wickets for 33 runs from 10 overs to be the pick of the West Indies bowlers, and rated the victory even bigger than the win in the Final of the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy in Britain, where he struck the winning runs.
"This is truly one of the best games I have every played in," he said. "This probably tops the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy Final because of the importance of this game.
"It was an amazing game for us and has given us a lot of confidence, and we want to thank the fans for giving us a lift towards the end. This victory now sets up a great series and we are looking forward to the remaining matches."
Ramnaresh Sarwan hit the top score of an undefeated 98 that beefed up the West Indies' total and earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.
"My final score did not matter as regards what happened in the end, except that it gave us a score with which to work," said Sarwan, who spent most of the Indian chase off the field with cramps.
"What was more important was that we got a win, and this is exactly what we did. We have been in winning positions before and failed, but it seems that it is a habit which we have to cultivate - winning, and finishing off games."
The third ODI will be played on Tuesday at Warner Park in Basseterre, St. Kitts, which will be staging its first ODI, and the series concludes on Friday and Sunday at Port of Spain's Queen's Park Oval.
The ODIs will be followed by a four-Test series with matches at St. John's, Gros Islet, Basseterre which will also stage a Test for the first time, and Kingston.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES (MAXIMUM 50 OVERS)
==============================================
C. Gayle c Dhoni b Agarkar 0
R. Morton lbw b Pathan 1
R. Sarwan not out 98
B. Lara c Dravid b Pathan 14
S. Chanderpaul c Kaif b H. Singh 10
M. Samuels c Dhoni b Y. Singh 19
D. Bravo c Raina b Powar 0
C. Baugh c Pathan b Powar 21
I. Bradshaw c H. Singh b Pathan 12
J. Taylor c Dhoni b Agarkar 9
F. Edwards not out 1
Extras: (lb2, w8, nb3) 13
Total: (9 wkts) 198
==============================================
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-24, 4-43, 5-103, 6-105, 7-143, 8-163, 9-197.
Bowling: Pathan 9-2-45-3 (nb1, w4); Agarkar 10-2-25-2 (w1); H. Singh 10-0-32-1; Patel 7-1-39-0 (nb2, w1); Powar 10-0-38-2 (w2); Y. Singh 4-0-17-1.
Overs: 50
INDIA:
==============================================
V. Sehwag c (sub) D.R. Smith b Bradshaw 12
R. Dravid c wkpr Baugh b Bradshaw 11
I. Pathan c Samuels b Edwards 14
Y. Singh b Bravo 93
M. Kaif c (sub) D.R. Smith b Taylor 4
S. Raina c Chanderpaul b Samuels 27
M. Dhoni b Taylor 2
A. Agarkar c and b Bradshaw 2
R. Powar c Taylor b Samuels 12
H. Singh c and b Gayle 1
M. Patel not out 2
Extras: (lb4, w8, nb5) 17
Total: (all out) 197
==============================================
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-37, 3-51, 4-60, 5-124, 6-130, 7-134, 8-177, 9-197.
Bowling: Edwards 7-2-19-1 (nb2, w2); Bradshaw 10-0-33-3 (nb3, w1); Taylor 9-0-49-2 (w1); Bravo 3.4-0-29-1 (w1); Gayle 10-0-33-1 (w2); Samuels 10-0-30-2 (w1).
Overs: 49.4
Result: West Indies won by one run.
Series: Five-match series is tied 1-1.
Toss: India.
Umpires: B. Doctrove, A. Rauf, TV
Replays: N. Malcolm, Reserve: C.
Fletcher. Match Referee: C. Broad.
Man-of-the-Match: Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies).
Comments
Comments are closed.