 at Kanpur. This was Dhawan’s fifth ODI ton in 2013 and the fastest of the lot (73 balls).){kind=link}
Shikhar Dhawan’s ton (119 off 95 deliveries) powered India to a commanding five-wicket win over West Indies in the third One-day International (ODI) at Kanpur. This was Dhawan’s fifth ODI ton in 2013 and the fastest of the lot (73 balls).
Another positive sign for India was the brisk innings of 55 by Yuvraj Singh batting at No. 4. He added a match-winning 129-run stand for the third-wicket with Dhawan after India were 61/2 in the ninth over.
India lost Rohit Sharma for 4 caught at first slip off Ravi Rampaul. India were positive despite the early loss of the wicket. No. 3 Virat Kohli got going with three boundaries. He fell to Rampaul trying to leave the ball a tad too late. The ball took the edge and Kohli was caught-behind for 19. That was Rampaul’s 100th ODI wicket.
If West Indies fancied their chances of a comeback in the game after picking up Kohli, the reality was a total antithesis. What followed was a counter-attack from India. Dhawan was in fine flow and the signs were ominous for the visitors. While Dhawan was blossoming, Yuvraj took his time to settle.
The visitors tried the bouncer far too often to Yuvraj which proved to be counter-productive as the southpaw swatted the deliveries with utter disdain.
Yuvraj however struggled to pick Sunil Narine but he hung in there. Eventually as Yuvraj bode his time in the middle he began to get the confidence. At the other end Dhawan was cutting ferociously, driving delectably, picking up loose balls reflexively to put the visitors in a lot of quandary. He got to his century off 73 balls.
Yuvraj got to his 51st fifty and perished soon after to Narine caught at the first slip. Dhawan was befuddled by captain Dwayne Bravo off a slower delivery. The Indian opener closed the face of the bat far too early and got the leading edge which was gobbled up by Bravo. India needed 46 more runs under less than 4 runs per over. There were no further jitters as the birthday boy Suresh Raina and captain MS Dhoni added 37. Against the run of play, Raina fell to Bravo trying to go for a booming drive.
On the first ball of the 47th over off Veersammy Permaul, captain MS Dhoni hit a boundary to seal yet another ODI series for India.
Earlier in the innings West Indies reached 263 thanks to the half-centuries from Kieron Powell (70), Marlon Samuels (71) and Darren Bravo (51 not out). The highlights of the innings were the 117-run 2nd wicket stand between Powell and Samuels and then the visitors scoring 41 off the final three overs. Bravo and Darren Sammy gave the innings the much-needed impetus to post a competitive total in a must-win game at Kanpur.
Sadly, the total of 263 was not good enough for West Indies to defend. Dhawan’s brilliance ensured that India’s run-chase was a smooth sail.
Brief scores
West Indies 263 for 5 in 50 overs (Marlon Samuels 71, Kieron Powell 70, Darren Bravo 51*; Ravichandran Ashwin 2 for 45) vs India 266 for 5 in 46.1 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 119, Yuvraj Singh 55; Ravi Rampaul 2 for 56) by 5 wickets.
Man of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan.
Man of the Series: Virat Kohli.