World Cup holders India marched into the Champions Trophy semi-finals with an emphatic win over the West Indies on Tuesday that knocked archrivals Pakistan out of the race.
A career-best five-wicket haul by Ravindra Jadeja and a second successive century from Shikhar Dhawan lifted India to an eight-wicket victory at the packed Oval on a grim, overcast day in London.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, backed by about 22,000 largely Indian supporters at the stadium, restricted the West Indies to 233-9 and then batted fluently to surpass the target in 39.1 overs.
Photo: Reuters
Left-hander Dhawan followed his 114 in the tournament opener against South Africa with an unbeaten 102, reaching his second one-day hundred by smashing Dwayne Bravo for a six over third man.
Dhawan put on 101 for the first wicket with Rohit Sharma (52) and an unbroken 109 for the third with Dinesh Karthik, who made 51 not out.
India’s second successive win in group B ensured them a place in the semi-finals even before their last league match against winless Pakistan in Birmingham on Saturday.
The West Indies and South Africa, who both beat Pakistan, clash in Cardiff tomorrow to determine the second semi-finalist from the group.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja, who finished with 5-36, set up the win with three wickets for five runs to reduce the Windies from 103-1 to 109-4 after India won the toss and elected to field.
“Overall, it was a very good performance,” Dhoni said.
“The West Indies got a great start, they seemed to be heading for 280, but our bowlers did well to restrict them,” he added.
“What is pleasing that our young batsmen have accepted the challenge. Dhawan and Rohit were really good, but it has also helped that we have become a very good fielding side,” he said.
Dhoni, asked about Saturday’s “dead” rubber against Pakistan, said: “I don’t think the Indian team has ever played a dead game. That match is also important to improve in the areas we want to.”
West Indies opener Johnson Charles smashed 60 off 55 balls, but it was a brilliant unbeaten 56 from 35 balls by former captain Darren Sammy towards the end that boosted the total.
Sammy plundered five boundaries and four sixes to lift his side from 182-9, making all the 35 runs from the last two overs as last man Kemar Roach watched from the non-striker’s end without scoring.
“We just did not have enough runs on the board,” West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo said.
“After the start we had, we deserved to get at least 40-50 runs more, but the Indians bowled well and stuck to their plans. Sammy was particularly good for us, but we need to work the ball around and improve our strike-rate,” he added.
“Our next game [against South Africa] is like a final itself. We know it will not be an easy game, but we have the talent to win it,” he said.
India won the initial battle by getting rid of danger man Chris Gayle in the fifth over, caught at slip off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, after he had scored 21 of the first 25 runs.
The West Indies were without wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who was handed a two-match ban for claiming a dropped catch during his team’s victory over Pakistan at The Oval on Friday last week.
Sammy replaced Ramdin in the side, while Charles kept wickets.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS