June 13, 2009
Champions Bow Down
India were taught a lesson in T20, as they were beaten comprehensively by the Windies, as they won with 7 wickets in hand. The current T20 ICC champions struggled as they faced impeccable fielding and classy bowling from the Windies not to mention some sensible batting. The West Indies were always a good team, with the likes of Gayle, Sarwan, Chandrapaul, Bravo and Edwards…. But they could never perform cohesively on the big stage and India were the poor team to face them when they did!!! India were never tested during this ICC tournament and they failed in their first test. The current champions have a lot of work to do if they are to retain their title.
The tone, was set by Taylor in the first over, troubling Gautam Gambhir with the bouncers. Edwards took the cue, and removed his Deccan Chargers team-mate, Rohit Sharma, with a bouncer. He troubled Suresh Raina too with the short-pitched stuff until the latter played back to a full delivery and edged it to Denesh Ramdin. The Indians couldn’t get their pulls right and they perished due to their poor execution.
As they say, “Cathes win Matches”, and the Windies proved the quote. Simmons took a blinder to send Gambhir back to the pavilion. And then it was the Indians turn to consolidate. Dhoni and Yuvraj started slowly. But under pressure to get going, Dhoni cut Bravo straight to sweeper-cover. Two balls later, Yuvraj picked the same fielder out, but was dropped by Andre Fletcher. India would have been 71 for 5, but for the drop. Whereupon, Yuvraj played a little gem to pull India out of all sorts of trouble, but it would stay the second-best effort of the night. His shot playing managed to get the Indians to a defendable total and a late cameo from Harbhajan helped them, as he scored boundries off the last three balls.
Then as the Windies turn to bat came, they put up a good show despite losing Fletcher and Gayle early. Bravo, being promoted up the order once again showed, why he is claimed one of the best in T20, with a 66 from 36, 48 of the runs coming off the Indian spinners. By the time Simmons was dismissed, it was Chandrapaul’s turn as they wrapped up the innings comfortably, without any problem. It was Bravo’s bravardo which put the Windies through as he pulled off the match winning knock and took 4 wickets to get the Man of the Match award. Everything is going right for the Windies and with this momentum they can win this trophy hands down. However, there is a lot of introspection to be done for the Indians if they are to retain their crown.
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