India v West Indies 2nd ODI: West Indies Restricted To 240 As Mishra Picks Four
India overcame a strong start from the West Indies to restrict them to 240 for nine in the second ODI of the five-match series at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. West Indies collapsed from 175 for two in the 36th over to hand the advantage back to India after it had seemed, at one stage, that a total of 270 looked achievable.
The collapse began with the dismissal of the well-set Marlon Samuels, when he tried to take on Yusuf Pathan and in the process, walked out of the crease and was stumped. He had scored 36 and that over from Pathan had already leaked 13, an indication of how the hara-kiri had cost the side dear.
Ramnaresh Sarwan got to his second slow half-century in succession but fell soon after to a waist-high full-toss. Not before long Amit Mishra had had the better of Kieron Pollard (0), Dwayne Bravo (8) and Carlton Baugh (2), triggering familiar scenes of shoddy finishing from the West Indian camp. The leg-spinner ended with figures of four for 31 from his ten overs, underlining the fact that the West Indian batting had struggled to pick his arsenal.
Earlier, the side had started off aggressively, as they looked to shrug off the web weaved by the opening Indian bowlers in the first ODI. The pair of Kirk Edwards and Lendl Simmons added 57 in 12 overs while Simmons was then involved in a 67-run second wicket stand with Sarwan. Simmons made 53 off 84, while Edwards’ was a cameo of 25 that came off 28 balls and included a six and three fours.
India lead the series 1-0 after winning the first game on Monday at the same venue by four wickets. West Indies had scored 214 in the first game and India had chased it down with much to spare thanks to Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten half-century.
