LONDON — West Indies beat India by seven wickets in a thrilling run chase at the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord's on Friday.
After India posted 153-7, Dwayne Bravo struck 66 not out off 36 balls and Lendl Simmons added 44 for West Indies to reach its target with 156-3 and eight balls to spare in the Super 8s.
Bravo finished the match in style with a six by smacking a full toss from Zaheer Khan over extra cover.
In all, he cracked three sixes and four boundaries, adding an unbeaten 56 in 4.1 overs with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who hit an unbeaten 9-ball 18.
Bravo also claimed 4-38 and Fidel Edwards 3-24 when India batted.
Captain Chris Gayle made just 22, but he was happy his teammates rose to the occasion.
"It's not all the time that you're going to get off to a flyer," he said. "It didn't happen today, but I'm really happy some of our younger players stepped up and it's really good for the team.
"Fidel Edwards picked up wickets at the top of the order. The majority of India's players are very good batsmen, but taking key wickets is very important."
Though India needs to win its last two Super8s games to advance to the semifinals, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the pressure didn't bother him.
"It will bring out the best in us," he said. "We were under a lot of pressure in the last World Cup when it was do or die every game, but we got through to the final and won it."
West Indies initially vindicated Gayle's decision to field after winning the toss by ripping through the top order.
Rohit Sharma was first to go for 5, caught by Simmons off Edwards in the second over. Raina was blatantly out, but he stood his ground and walked only after the television umpire intervened.
Suresh Raina was next for 5, nicking a catch behind to Denesh Ramdin off Edwards.
Simmons then caught opener Gautan Gambhir after he miscued a Bravo delivery and India ended the powerplay with just 40 from six overs.
Dhoni made 11 before he was caught on the boundary by Andre Fletcher off Bravo. India lurched at 66-4 but Yuvraj Singh (67) and Yusuf Pathan (31) launched a fierce counterattack.
Fletcher spilled a hard chance from Pathan, and the latter took advantage in the 15th over, with Pathan and Singh smacking Bravo for 16.
The duo put on 50 from 26 balls.
Singh was caught and bowled by Edwards in the 18th over, but Jerome Taylor missed a return catch from Pathan, who eventually went in the final over, bowled by Bravo. Harbhajan Singh, 13 not out, hit fours from the last three balls to give India a defendable target.
Dhoni ultimately rued the loss of early wickets.
"A lot depends on the first few overs," he said. "If you lose too many wickets then obviously you need to go for a more considered approach. Then your lower order batsmen can go for it, but it never happened for us."
Pathan's brother Irfan struck an early blow during the chase when he had Fletcher caught by Yuvraj for a duck in the second over, and Harbhajan then bowled only the second maiden of the tournament in the sixth over.
When Gayle was caught by Khan off Irfan for 22, the Indian supporters who formed the overwhelming majority of the crowd, celebrated as if the game was already won.
But Simmons and Bravo put on 50 from 35 balls, and with wickets in hand the outcome hung in the balance.
In the 15th over both batsmen found themselves at the same end, only for Dhoni to fumble the ball and miss the chance of a run out, but two balls later Simmons was caught at deep square leg, after getting a top edge to Irfan. Simmons and Bravo shared 58 in 6.5 overs.
The momentum shifted decisively in West Indies' favour when Bravo and Chanderpaul scored 16 runs from the 17th over and 15 off the 18th, including a brilliant reverse sweep for four by Chanderpaul.
SCORECARD
SRI LANKA INNINGS
W. U. Tharanga c Taylor b Bravo 40
M. L. Udawatte c Chattergoon b Taylor 14
K. C. Sangakkarac Sarwan b Gayle 28
K. Weeraratne c Bravo b Sammy 15
D. P. M. D. Jayawardenenot out 4
L. P. C. Silva b Gayle 2
Extras: (lb 8, w 1) 9
TOTAL (5 wickets, 30.3 overs) 112
Did not bat: T. M. Dilshan, C. K. Kapugedera, W. P. U. J. C. Vaas,
B. A. W. Mendis, K. M. D. N. Kulasekera.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-78, 3-105, 4-109, 5-112.
Bowling: J. E. Taylor 6-2-10-1, F. H. Edwards 5-0-26-0,
D. B. L. Powell 7-0-21-0, D. J. Bravo 6-0-16-1,
D. J. G. Sammy 5-0-25-1, C. H. Gayle 1.3-0-6-2.
WEST INDIES INNINGS
C. H. Gayle c Weeraratne b Kulasekara 11
D. J. Bravo b Kulasekara 2
R. R. Sarwan lbw b Kulasekara 1
S. Chanderpaul not out 52
M. N. Samuels not out 54
Extras: (lb 3, w 2) 5
Total(3 wickets, 20.3 over) 125
Did not bat: S. Chattergoon, D. Ramdin, D. J. G. Sammy,
J. E. Taylor, F. H. Edwards, D. B. L. Powell.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-15, 3-18.
Bowling: W. P. U. J. C. Vaas 4-0-21-0, K. M. D. N. Kulasekara 5-0-28-3,
K. Weeraratne 3-0-24-0, B. A. W. Mendis 4-0-21-0,
C. K. Kapugedera 4-0-25-0, T. M. Dilshan 0.3-0-3-0.
Series: West Indies lead the 3-match series 2-0.
West Indies vs India 2009 2020 super 8 West Indies innings
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