SECOND ODI
Port of Spain: Leg-spinner Amit Mishra returned with a four-wicket haul as India restricted the West Indies to a modest 240 for nine in the second one-day International here on Wednesday.
For the hosts, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lendl Simmons cracked individual half-centuries. All the top-order West Indies batsmen got starts but failed to convert it into a big score.
The middle-order however performed below par to allow the Men In Blue to come back into the match.
Sarwan (56) shared 67 with Simmons (53) for the second wicket and 51 runs for the third wicket with Marlon Samuels (36) to set the foundation for a big score but Mishra’s triple strike at the fag end of the innings put brakes on their scoring rate.
The Haryana leg-spinner removed Kieron Pollard (8) in the 42nd over, before dismissing Dwayne Bravo (0) and Carlton Baugh (2) with consecutive deliveries in the 44th over to reduce West Indies from 192-4 to 197 for seven. Munaf Patel (3/33) then grabbed a couple — Devendra Bishoo (0) and Ravi Rampaul (14) — in the space of four deliveries in the 49th over to further dent the hopes of the Caribbeans, who are trailing 0-1 in the five-match series.
Skipper Darren Sammy provided some momentum with his racy 19-ball 22, which included two fours and a six, as the home team finished their innings at a below-par score.
Yusuf Pathan (2/51) was the other wicket-taker for India.
Sent into bat after India skipper Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field, West Indies rode on their top-order batsmen to reach 175 for three in 36 overs but once Sarwan was dismissed the Caribbeans lost their way completely. (PTI)
Brief Scores
West Indies
240 for 9 in 50 overs
(R Sarwan 56, L Simmons 53;
A Mishra 4-31)