Dhoni steadies nervous chase as top-order fails.

India advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup after prevailing over West Indies by four wickets here on Friday. Set a target of 183, M.S. Dhoni’s men stumbled, losing frequent wickets. It was left to the captain and R. Ashwin to wrap it up.

Against good fast bowling on a pitch reputed to be the quickest in the world, India’s toporder floundered. Virat Kohli made 33, looking fluent until he fell to a short-pitched delivery. India needed 49 runs when the sixth wicket fell. But Dhoni pulled the chestnuts out of the fire with an unbeaten 45. The foundation for the win was laid by Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who subdued West Indies with a fantastic exhibition of hostile fast bowling.

‘Captain Cool’ delivers

The Indian juggernaut wobbled and juddered but pulled through all right. M.S. Dhoni’s steady hand saw his team home in a nervous run-chase at the WACA ground here on Friday, as India defeated West Indies by four wickets to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

Mohammed Shami, later declared ‘man-of-the-match, and Umesh Yadav put on a demonstration of blistering fast bowling to help limit West Indies to 182. In pursuit, India had sunk to 134 for six when Dhoni and R. Ashwin were united at the crease. The pair added 51 runs in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership to take the team home.

Jerome Taylor’s opening spell made it clear India’s run-chase was not going to be straightforward. He hurtled in from around the wicket at Shikhar Dhawan, bowling seriously fast and leaving him little room.

Dhawan soon pushed at one and was consumed in the slips. Rohit Sharma received a marvellous out-swinger, bowled at just the right length to draw him forward, and he fell for 7. Virat Kohli then briefly batted as if the difficulties of those before him had been some sort of mirage. He hit two firm drives and whipped Taylor off his pads for successive boundaries. But when Kohli chose to pull Andre Russell (of the Mr. T hairstyle) from outside the off-stump, he dragged it down the throat of the long-leg fielder.

The size of the target meant the game was never going to be won by containing the chasing side. It helped to have another speed-merchant in Kemar Roach, who replaced the spinner Suleiman Benn in the team.

Roach was wayward at first but he struck in his fifth over, having Ajinkya Rahane caught behind. The batsman reviewed the decision but replays proved inconclusive.

India lurched to 78 for four, when Suresh Raina walked out. He was predictably met with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries but it was eventually Dwayne Smith’s gentle medium-pace that did for him. When Ravindra Jadeja departed, also playing the pull shot, India still needed 49 runs for victory.

M.S. Dhoni, though, found a competent ally in Ashwin. The two mostly steered clear of the shots that had claimed some of their predecessors — although Dhoni did scythe Russell over third-man for six. The captain remained unbeaten on 45, scoring the winning runs in full, headgear-less glory.

In the dull heat of the afternoon, India produced an hour of the most irrepressible, furious fast bowling. Yadav and Shami bowled quick, bowled short, and generally put it where the batsman didn’t want it.

They moved the ball lightly in the air, and off the pitch, and beat the bat as a matter of routine. Smith was struggling against Shami and he soon nicked off, trying to cut a short ball that was too close.

Shami welcomed Marlon Samuels with one that whizzed past his nose; Gayle got another in the same region.

Discomfiting pace

That Yadav worked up a discomfiting pace — steadily in the high 140s — was no surprise. That he did it with accuracy early on was; Gayle was forced to play out a maiden over and the West Indian innings was crawling.

The exit of Samuels, who was run-out chasing a single his partner had no interest in, seemed to spark Gayle into action. He swung freely — that two edges flew in the direction of third-man and were dropped did not bother him — and sent a ball from Yadav sailing over the long-on boundary. But India had no reason to be worried by this approach.

Gayle soon top-edged a rising delivery from Shami and was caught at mid-wicket.

Thereafter, the West Indians batted as if they were in a rush to catch the last ferry to Fremantle (which leaves the Barrack Street jetty at 5.30 p.m.). They sank to 124 for eight, Shami taking a third, and it was only the intervention of Jason Holder that dragged the total to 182. The ball had grown older now and there was none of the menace of the opening period, but the young captain batted admirably to make 57.

It couldn’t stop India, though, from marching into the last eight with two Group B games in hand.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Cricket> World Cup / by Shreedutta Chidananda / Perth – March 06th, 2015