West Indies upset India in Coca-Cola Cup final
John Ward - 7 July 2001
In an upset result, West Indies overturned the form book to record a
16-run victory over India on Saturday to win the Coca-Cola Cup final
at the Harare Sports Club, after twice losing to the same opposition
in the preliminary round.
The weather (and the media facilities, as is usual until the new media
centre is finally built) failed to match the occasion. It was
unusually overcast and therefore very cold, like an English county
match in April.
The pitch was good for batting, giving only a little early help to the
seamers, and it took a fair degree of spin. However, Sourav Ganguly
was happy to put West Indies in to bat on winning the toss for India.
West Indies, in Wednesday's `preview' of the final, had made a solid
start that had proved to be too slow. They were determined it would
not happen again. Daren Ganga and Chris Gayle began with positive
strokeplay and had 33 on the board after five overs, mostly off
Debashish Mohanty, who went for 26 in his first three-over spell.
The Indian bowlers and fielders showed signs of stress under the
unexpected pressure as the fifty came up in the eighth over. Harbhajan
Singh was brought on to bowl the tenth over and succeeded in putting a
brake on the scoring rate. Runs still cascaded from the other end, as
the batsmen matched each other with superb driving in particular, and
ran well between wickets. These first ten overs were the decisive
period of the match, as the West Indian openers gave them an advantage
and impetus that they never lost.
Harbhajan finally broke through as Gayle (43 off 45 balls) holed out
to long-off in the 14th over, having put on 86 with Ganga, who in the
following over hit Virender Shewag over his head for four to reach 50
off only 40 balls. He eventually holed out at deep midwicket off Sodhi
for 71 off 62 balls. Carl Hooper came in next, but Wavell Hinds became
bogged down against the spinners and hit a return catch to Sodhi for
10.
Two new batsmen in Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had to settle in,
but then they got the board moving again, not so much with the
powerful boundaries of their opening pair but more through skilful
placement for ones and twos. Hooper ran to his fifty off 46 balls, and
Chanderpaul soon followed before being yorked by Nehra for exactly 50.
The pair had added 108 and West Indies were 238 for four in the 43rd
over.
The aim was no doubt for 300, but Hooper (66 off 63 balls) skied
Zaheer Khan to mid-off, which put that difficult target just out of
reach. Ramnaresh Sarwan made 16, Ridley Jacobs 26 not out, and West
Indies finished with 290 for six.
Only spinners Harbhajan (35 runs conceded off 10 overs) and Sodhi (31
off 7) escaped serious punishment and India faced a mammoth task to
win the Cup the form book said should be theirs. But with Sachin
Tendulkar in their ranks, it could be done.
However, India's hopes soon received a crushing blow. Tendulkar,
suffering apparently from stomach trouble, had not scored when he
tried to pull Corey Collymore in the third over and skied a catch to
midwicket.
Ganguly however seemed quite to have regained his form, scoring 22 of
the first 24 on the board and playing some daring shots, especially
over the covers, against the pace bowlers. However, when he had 28 he
tried to swing Collymore across the line, to be trapped lbw, and India
were 35 for two in the ninth over.
Heavy responsibility now devolved upon VVS Laxman, returned from
injury, and Rahul Dravid. Laxman (18) was just settling in and looking
good when he pulled to square leg to give Collymore his third wicket,
and at 58 for three in the 13th over, India were staring defeat in the
face.
Dravid, undaunted, played some fine strokes, but Shewag (2) also
flicked a catch to midwicket, this time off Dillon. Then came the
final blow as Dravid (30) played back to Reon King and played the ball
on to his stumps via the inside edge. At 80 for five with all their
front-line batsmen back in the pavilion, India were to all effects
dead and buried.
Sodhi and Sameer Dighe did their best to ensure India would lose with
honour, as they shared an aggressive partnership of 101 before
Collymore returned to have Sodhi caught at long-on for 67 off 76
balls. Gayle bowled Harbhajan (12), going for a big hit, and Khan (0)
with successive balls, but Dighe continued to blaze away, hitting
particularly powerfully to leg.
But 25 were needed off the final over and it was just too much, with
the heroic Dighe finishing unbeaten with 94, assisted perhaps
unexpectedly by Mohanty (18 not out). Collymore finished with four for
49. Although India were never quite there after the loss of their
first five, it was great entertainment to the last ball.
© CricInfo
Teams
|
India,
West Indies.
|
Players/Umpires
|
Chris Gayle,
Daren Ganga,
Debasis Mohanty,
Harbhajan Singh,
Virender Shewag,
Carl Hooper,
Wavell Hinds,
Shiv Chanderpaul,
Reetinder Sodhi,
Zaheer Khan,
Sachin Tendulkar,
Sourav Ganguly,
VVS Laxman,
Sameer Dighe,
Rahul Dravid,
Corey Collymore.
|
Tours
|
West Indies in Zimbabwe
|
Tournaments
|
Coca-Cola Cup (Zimbabwe) |
Scorecard
|
Final: India v West Indies, 7 Jul 2001 |
Grounds
|
Harare Sports Club
|