DHAKA: India secure their fourth consecutive victory in ICC World Cup-2015 after beating West Indies by four wickets chasing a 183-run target in Pool B match Friday.
India 185 for 6 (Dhoni 45*) beat West Indies 182 (Holder 57, Shami 3-35) by 4 wickets
India were given their first scare of the World Cup when West Indies reduced them to 78 for 4 and 134 for 6 in a chase of 183, but MS Dhoni shepherded them through to an eventually comfortable win with four wickets in hand and 10.5 overs to spare.
West Indies finally displayed some grit and fight with late-order runs and some penetrating quick bowling, but the damage done by Chris Gayle at the start of the match was too much to undo.
Indian bowler Mohammed Shami awarded the Man of the Match as he hunted three important wickets of the Caribbeans.
Winner captain MS Dhoni said: “I think it was a difficult wicket, even initially with the new ball. There was some variable bounce, it was doing a bit. It settled down later, there was some swing for the West Indies bowlers as well, with the new ball. Our bowlers didn't try too much, they stuck to their line and length, it had a bit more bounce, gave quite a few wides bowling bouncers, but we also got wickets with the bouncer, so very happy with our performance.
It is a difficult target, because you don't know whether to go and play your shots. It was a good chance to test out lower middle order. Ashwin played well, Jadeja will have to step up, I feel. The last time we were in New Zealand, there were true wickets, we'll have to see what kind of wickets are provided, but generally the ball comes on, there is some bounce. Generally the grounds are small so that is one area where we will have to adjust.”
West Indies captain Jason Holder said: "No regrets about batting first. Always thought it would be a good wicket. We lost early momentum, and it was difficult to recover. We didn't apply ourselves well enough when we batted and we never really caught up in the game. Batting out the overs was my plan, but I still thought we needed runs to have a chance, unfortunately I gave it away at the end. We need to string together a complete game."
BDST: 2017 HRS, MAR 06, 2015
** ndia bowled out Windies for 182-run
