London: Shikhar Dhawan cracked his second successive century after Ravindra Jadeja destroyed West Indies’ batting with a five-wicket spell to propel India into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.
The pair’s brilliance guided India to an emphatic eight-wicket victory achieved with 65 balls to spare at the Oval ground yesterday.
India’s victory knocked arch-rivals Pakistan out of the eight-nation tournament.
Dhawan, who enjoyed a century partnership with fellow opener Rohit Sharma, hit a superb unbeaten 102, five days after he cracked 114 against South Africa in the first match of the Champions Trophy at Cardiff.
West Indies had posted a challenging total of 233 for 9 following Darren Sammy’s quick unbeaten 56 and opener Johnson Charles’ 60.
After Sammy lifted his side from 182 for 9 past the 200-run mark through an unbeaten 51-run partnership with Kemar Roach for the ninth wicket in four overs, it looked like West Indies might put up a good fight.
Jadeja’s career-best spell of 5 for 36 wrecked the West Indian batting, a department which clicked superbly for India. But Dhawan’s second successive century had an element of luck attached to it, after Kieron Pollard dropped him on 22 off the bowling of Sammy and Roach did likewise on 41 off Dwayne Bravo.
Karthik gets reprieve
Upsetting West Indies bowlers’ plans for early wickets, Dhawan and Sharma went for their shots. They put on 101 runs in just 15.3 overs, but Sunil Narine finally provided the breakthrough by having Sharma caught down the leg side by stand-in wicketkeeper Johnson Charles for 52.
Four overs later, Narine struck again by bowling Virat Kohli for 22. Dinesh Karthik survived a caught-behind decision off Ravi Rampaul through a replay after he was given out by umpire Aleem Dar for a duck. He remained unconquered on 51. Dhawan and Karthik added an unbroken 109 runs to seal the victory.
Earlier,All-rounder Jadeja returned with figures of five for 36 after reducing the West Indies to 182 for nine before Sammy began his onslaught. Sammy, who scored only five runs in the first 15 balls, shifted gears to reach the half-century in the next 20 balls. Sammy’s unbeaten knock came off 35 balls with five fours and four powerful sixes and helped West Indies post a challenging 233 for 9.
India had full control over the innings till the 46th over before losing their grip after winning the toss and electing to field.
Despite the overcast conditions, it was not the pacers who struck but the accurate spin of Jadeja. He picked three quick wickets in a span of 14 deliveries to destroy West Indies top order.
The day began with the dangerous Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles putting on 25 runs in five overs. With the last ball of the fifth over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck by removing Gayle, forcing him to thick edge to Ravichandran Ashwin at first slip.
Gayle was just settling down to play his shots and had scored 21 out of the team’s 25 runs. A strong partnership of 78 runs from 89 balls followed between Charles and Darren Bravo before Jadeja broke the partnership.
He had Charles, who played across the line to be trapped leg before with a flatter delivery. Charles’ elegant 60 came off 55 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes.
Two overs later, Jadeja won a leg before verdict against Marlon Samuels.
