Gayle ton sees West Indies go 2-0 up Chris Gayle, for once, lived up to his name and blew aside the Indian challenge in the second one-day international between the two sides played on Saturday at Nagpur. The imposing West Indies opener made 103, while Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all chipped in with useful hands, as the tourists secured an emphatic seven-wicket to go 2-0 up in the series. Earlier, West Indies skipper Carl Hooper put the Indians in after winning the toss. With Virender Sehwag and Ajit Agarkar making early returns to the pavilion, his decision seemed to have paid off. But with Sourav Ganguly (78), VVS Laxman (99) and Rahul Dravid (51) getting among the runs, the hosts recovered to post 279-9 at the end of their 47 overs. On a belter of a batting wicket, it was, however, always a gettable score. After Gayle and Hinds laid the groundwork, it was left to Sarwan (39* off 40 balls) and Chanderpaul (39* off 32 balls) to apply the finishing touches.

Hooper: Gayle batted beautifully Captain Carl Hooper praised centurion Chris Gayle for his role in scripting the West Indies. second consecutive win against India on Saturday at Nagpur. "Gayle batted beautifully," Hooper said, after the opener hit 103 to guide West Indies to a seven-wicket win, the tourists reaching 280 for three with four balls to spare in reply to India's 279 for nine in the 47-over-a-side game. The West Indies skipper praised his batsmen for piling pressure on India's leading spinners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, who have struggled in the ODI series after tormenting West Indies during their 2-0 Test series defeat. "As it has turned out, Harbhajan and Kumble are a bit under pressure," he observed. Hooper went on to explain his rationale behind his decision to field first after winning the toss. "My experience of playing in these sort of pitches, you don't know what is exactly a good score. It is hard to pace yourself (batting first). Also given the Indian bowling, we felt it was better to bowl first," he said. Man of the Match Gayle, meanwhile, complimented the 21-year-old Marlon Samuels, who hit 52 - his second consecutive fifty - and shared in a 134-run second wicket stand. "We batted really sensibly," Gayle said. "Marlon played a brilliant supporting role." Disappointed Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly admitted his side had been outplayed again and blamed his bowlers. "To win, we need to take wickets which we did not do," he said, after only fast bowler Javagal Srinath impressed, conceding only 35 runs for his two wickets in 9.2 overs. "We just did not look a side that is hungry enough in these two games. We need to work on our cricket."

West Indies came close to walking off at Nagpur - Procter It now emerges that the game at Nagpur came dangerously close to seeing a West Indies walkout. According to match referee Mike Procter, the tourists were on the verge of making the decision after spectators threw missiles at West Indies fielder Ramnaresh Sarwan early into the Indian innings. "Carl Hooper told me he was perturbed by the stone throwing," Procter told reporters after West Indies won by seven wickets to go 2-0 up. "Hooper said if it did happen again, he would have come off the field. Or I would have taken him off the field," the former South African all-rounder said. He also said he would report the Nagpur incidents to the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has already sought a report from him on the crowd behaviour in the first match in Jamshedpur.

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