India lose; WI’S(has)triumph is narrow

This 50-overs-a-side match wasn’t a part of the seven-match series that was being played between the Indians and the West Indians. The former made a couple of Ch(et)anges to their playing eleven – Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma made way for Mohinder Amarnath and Sharma.

The latter made three changes to theirs – Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge and Courtney Walsh made way for Phil Simmons, Jeff Dujon and Winston Davis. Ravi Shastri, India’s skipper, inserted the visitors. Richie Richardson faced nine balls, scoring four. His runs came by way of a boundary. Chetan broke the opening stand, which was worth half-a-dozen.

Dujon, whose 14-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. He was caught by Chetan, who broke the 22-run stand. Simmons, whose 35-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 20. He was trapped leg before wicket by Kapil Dev, who broke the third-wicket stand, which was worth 27.

Vivian Richards, the West Indies’ captain, scored 17. His 24-ball innings included three boundaries. Amarnath broke the 10-run stand. Gus Logie, whose 56-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 30. He was caught by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the player of the match. Arshad Ayub broke the 46-run stand.

Carl Hooper, who faced 69 balls, scored 33. His innings included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by Arun Lal. Srikkanth broke the 52-run stand. The seventh-wicket pair put on just three. Eldine Baptiste, whose 34-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 31. He was run out.

The eighth-wicket pair put on a couple. David Williams, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was run out. Winston Benjamin, who faced nine balls, scored five. Ayub broke the five-run stand. Davis, who faced 23 balls, scored 10. Dev broke the 23-run stand. Patrick Patterson, whose 16-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 13. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 21 extras. The West Indies were dismissed for 196 off 48.3 overs. Shastri bowled three overs, conceding 23. He was wicketless, as was Sanjeev Sharma, who bowled five overs, including a maiden. He conceded 24. Srikkanth bowled five overs, including a maiden. He conceded 15, picking up a wicket.

Amarnath bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 28, picking up a wicket. Chetan bowled seven overs, conceding 31. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Dev and Ayub. While the former bowled 8.3 overs, conceding 21, the latter, whose 10-over spell included a maiden, conceded 37.

Lal, whose 36-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 16. He was caught by Williams. Patterson broke the 26-run stand. Amarnath, whose 46-ball innings included a boundary, scored 21. He was caught by Simmons. Baptiste broke the second-wicket stand, which was worth 43.

Srikkanth scored 53. His 71-ball innings included five boundaries and a six. He was caught by Baptiste. Richards broke the third-wicket stand, which was with 29. Woorkeri Raman, whose 26-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. He was caught by Williams. Benjamin broke the 29-run stand.

The fifth-wicket pair did not get off the mark. Sanjay Manjrekar, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Richards off the bowling of Benjamin. The sixth-wicket stand was worth nine. Dev, whose 26-ball innings included a six, scored 21. He was run out.

Sadanand Viswanath, who never represented India again, faced 22 balls. He wasn’t in seventh heaven. Patterson broke the 24-run stand. Shastri, who faced 39 balls, scored 19. Davis broke the eighth-wicket partnership, which was worth just a couple. Chetan, whose 15-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 16. He was unbeaten.

Ayub, whose 24-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. He was caught by Simmons. Patterson broke the 29-run stand. Sanjeev, who faced four balls, scored just a run. He was unbeaten.

The West Indies conceded 12 extras. India scored 194 for the loss of nine wickets off 50 overs, losing the one-off match by just a couple of runs. Hooper bowled a wicketless over, conceding eight.

Baptiste, Richards (whose spell included a maiden) and Davis (whose spell included a couple of maidens) bowled 10 overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. They conceded 49, 43 and 35, respectively.

Benjamin bowled 10 overs, conceding 30. He picked up a couple of wickets. Patterson bowled nine overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 26, picking up three scalps.