Perth: A superlative bowling performance and a cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni eventually helped India muster a four-wicket win against the West Indies to notch their fourth consecutive World Cup Pool B victory on a tricky WACA pitch here on Friday.
A brilliant bowling performance helped the defending champions skittle out the Windies for 182 in 44.2 overs with Man-of-the-Match Mohammed Shami clinching 3-35.
In reply, India struggled throughout their chase but level-headed captain Dhoni saw the team through in 39.1 overs to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Chasing a meagre 183, India lost both openers Rohit Sharma (7) and Shikhar Dhawan (9) cheaply.
Vice captain Virat Kohli (33) took India out from the early trouble and looked solid at the crease as he stroked five boundaries in his 36-ball innings.
However, the Windies pacers were in with a mission and some lethal pace backed by aid from the fast pitch led them to clinch the wickets of Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (14), Suresh Raina (22) and Ravindra Jadeja (13) at regular intervals to put India in more than a spot of bother.
However, a patient Dhoni, coming in at No.6, stuck it out in the middle to score a crucial, unbeaten 45 to see India home with Ravichandran Ashwin (16 not out) beside him.
But the Windies bowlers tested India throughout their innings.
Earlier, asked to bowl, India obliged by packing off the former two-time champions with pace spearhead Shami being the pick of the bowlers.
Shami and Umesh Yadav (2/42) bowled superbly in tandem with accurate line-and-length to restrict the Windies at 8/1 in five overs.
In fact, explosive opener Chris Gayle (21) struggled and took 11 balls to get off the mark, that too in the sixth over.
Gayle looked a little dangerous when he smashed two boundaries and a six but once he got out, Indian bowlers ripped apart the Windies batting line-up.
The burly left-hander gave three difficult chances to India but eventually gifted his wicket when he slashed hard a short ball only to be caught by Mohit Sharma at mid-wicket.
Shami, who did not play in India’s last match against the United Arab Emirates due to injury, and Yadav made perfect use of the pacy and bouncy WACA wicket to take four wickets to reduce the Caribbean side to 35/4 by the 10th over.
Some poor shot selection by Windies batsmen also aided the defending champions.
Third pacer Mohit (1/35) was also impressive while spinners Ashwin (1/38) and Jadeja (2/27) choked the Windies and consequently the batsmen gave away their wickets.
The Indian fielding proved to be two sides of the same coin.
While some fielded brilliantly to stop runs and clinched impressive catches, a couple of sitters were also dropped by Jadeja and Rohit which helped the Windies go beyond the 150-run mark.
Windies captain Jason Holder (57) offered the only resistance down the order with his highest One-Day International (ODI) score.
The 23-year-old all-rounder showed the WACA wicket was a good one to bat on as he hammered three sixes and four fours in his 64-ball innings before being caught on the last ball of the innings.
India next play Ireland on March 10 at Hamilton. (IANS)
