Kemar Roach got himself a perfect birthday present as he guided West Indies to a thrilling one-wicket victory over India in a nail-biting encounter of the Celkon Mobile Cup Tri-Series in Kingston on Monday.
Chasing a modest target of 230, West Indies made a heavy weather of the chase despite a sparkling knock of 97 by opener Johnson Charles but finally managed to register their second win in the tournament with 14 balls to spare.
With nine points from two matches, West Indies are in with a bright chance of making it to the finals.
Roach (14 no) kept his cool as he flicked Umesh Yadav (3/43) towards square leg to bring up the victory in a match where fortune swung like a pendulum.
The foundation of the victory was laid by opener Charles who faced 100 balls hitting eight boundaries and four huge sixes. He added 116 runs for the fourth wicket with Darren Bravo (55) and the victory didn’t look out of sight.
Credit to Indian bowlers who made a fantastic comeback as they got some quick breakthroughs including to come right back into the match before Roach finally sealed it for the hosts.
At the start of the chase, West Indies were in dire straits as they lost both Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels within the first five overs as they were precariously placed at 26 for three.
Yadav removed opposition’s best batsman Gayle (11) and followed it up with wicket of Devon Smith (0) while Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled Samuels (1) to reduce West Indies to 26 for three.
Gayle was dismissed as a delivery from Umesh rose awkwardly and it hit the upper portion of his bat. The resultant catch was taken by Suresh Raina stationed at short cover.
In his next over, Yadav removed left-hander Smith with an inswinger while Samuels dragged one from Kumar back onto his stumps.
Opener Charles however batted positively. The first six scoring strokes were boundaries as he punished both Yadav and Kumar.
With minimum backlift and least footwork, Charles successfully hit through the line whenever it was slotted in his zone. He found an able ally in Bravo as the duo resurrected the innings.
The 50 run partnership came off 70 balls. Bravo, who was slow to begin with but chanced his arms against Ravindra Jadeja hitting the bowler over his head for a six.
The duo batted sensibly as the 100 came up in the 22nd over and Charles completed a well-deserved half-century off 60 balls.
To celebrate his 50, Charles gave Jadeja the charge to hit him into the stands. The 100 runs for the fourth wicket partnership came off 131 balls and in the 26th over.
With the pitch easing out a bit compared to first half, the West Indian pair didn’t have any problems in negotiating the Indian bowlers. Spin twins Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin weren’t as effective as one expected them to be.
A desperate Virat Kohli leading the side in regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s absence briught back Yadav for his second spell but Charles greeted him with one of the biggest six of the match.
Finally, after a 116-run partnership, Bravo was gone for 55 trying to dispatch a half-tracker from Ashwin but only managing to find Shikhar Dhawan at short mid-wicket.
The wicket rejuvenated the Indians as Ishant Sharma came back for his second spell and bowled a perfect length to induce an edge off rival captain Kieron Pollard which was smartly taken by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. From 142 for three, West Indies suddenly became 155 for five.
From 155 for five, it soon became 161 for six as Ashwin operating from round the wicket pushed one which breached Denesh Ramdin’s defence.
Sammy announced his arrival with a huge six off Ishant and followed it up with a backfoot cover drive off Ashwin. If this wasn’t enough, Sammy used Yadav’s pace to hit him over deep square leg for a second six to bring down the required runs to below 50 with 15 overs still remaining.
The former skipper scored a quickfire 29 off 25 balls before he was holed out in the third man region of Ishant’s bowling.
Brief Scores:
India 229/7 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 60, Suresh Raina 44, Kemar Roach 2/41, Sarren Sammy 2/41).
West Indies 230/9 in 47.4 overs (Johnson Charles 97, Darren Bravo 55, Umesh Yadav 3/43). WI won by 1 wicket.