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This is an archive article published on June 13, 2011

Clinical West Indies crush India by 103 runs in fourth ODI

West Indies bowlers produced a clinical performance as they crushed India by 103 runs.

West Indies bowlers produced a clinical performance after Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons laid the foundation with fluent fifties,as they crushed India by 103 runs in the fourth One-day International,on Monday.

Sent into bat after Suresh Raina won the toss,Pollard top-scored with a typically aggressive 70 off 72 balls while opener Simmons notched up a fluent 67 off 78 deliveries,to lift the hosts to 249 for eight,their highest total of the series,after the Indian bowlers had them in a spot of bother at 89 for four.

short article insert In reply,India crumbled in the face of some disciplined work from the host bowlers,especially Anthony Martins and Andre Russell,who shared seven wickets between them to bundle out the visitors for 146 in 39 overs.

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The victory not only broke a sequence of three successive defeats but also restored some pride for the hosts.

India made three changes to the squad bringing in Ravichandran Aswin,Manoj Tiwary and Ishant Sharma.

Tiwary,playing in place of Shikhar Dhawan,failed to capitalise on the opportunity edging Darren Sammy to Carlton Baugh,but Parthiv Patel picked up a few useful boundaries to set it up for India.

However,after getting his eye in,Patel drove one uppishly for Sammy to complete a fine left-handed catch off his own bowling.

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So was the case with Virat Kohli (22 off 33 balls),who got out,courtesy a smart piece of work by Baugh off the bowling of leg-spinner Martin.

As far as Subramaniam Badrinath was concerned,he looked out of sorts from the word go and the West Indian bowlers,especially Russell,troubled him with the short stuffs,before the all-rounder had the Chennai batsman caught behind.

Though the top order was the back in the pavilion with not much on the board,there was still hope for India as long as the in-form Rohit Sharma and skipper Suresh Raina were at the crease.

But Martin had other ideas as he lured Raina with a fuller length delivery which the batsman hit straight to Pollard at midwicket.

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Yusuf Pathan,who has the reputation of throwing away his wicket,lived upto the billing by playing an unnecessary shot against Simmons that could not clear long off.

When Sharma top-edged a Martin delivery to give Darren Bravo a simple catch in the circle,it was as good as over for India.

Russell added to his kitty by dismissing Kumar who gave a simple catch to Sammy.

Ashwin crossed the double figures but the rest of the batting folded up all too easily for the hosts to earn a consolation win.

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Earlier,despite some early setbacks,Simmons looked in total command at the other end,finding the fence with ease.

After his dismissal,Pollard took over and in the company of Carlton Baugh,did the repair work with a solid half-century partnership at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

But just when the hosts threatened to pile up a huge score,Pollard went for an expansive shot against Ravichandran Ashwin that found Ishant at long-off.

The lanky Ishant gave India a perfect start,removing Danza Hyatt as early as in the second over of the match.

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Kumar then had the experienced Ramnaresh Sarwan caught at point by Sharma.

Simmons rebuilt the innings,and in the company of Darren Bravo,put together a fifty partnership for the third wicket,but Mishra cut short what seemed like a flourishing partnership,by having Bravo caught at deep midwicket in the 16th over.

The leg-spinner,who has been having a good series,struck again eight overs later when he trapped Marlon Samuels in front of the wicket to leave the hosts reeling at 89 for four.

West Indies were dealt a body blow when Simmons,who looked in good touch during his stay at crease,was run out by an agile Tiwary.

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But before falling victim to Tiwary’s acrobatic act,Simmons played some effective shots to prop up his team.

There was a pull over backward point and a heave over wide long-on for another boundary off Ishant.

After a late cut against Pathan,Simmons came into his own,unleashing three sixes,two off Mishra and one against Ishant,before getting out.

Pollard’s first boundary was a streaky one over point but thereafter he showed his power in no uncertain terms by producing some stunning shots.

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The burly Trinidadian took his time to settle but cut loose by hitting Mishra down the ground and then flicked Kumar over midwicket fence in the next over.

Opting for batting powerplay in the 44th over,Pollard smacked Mishra over midwicket and a delivery later,glanced him past fine-leg for a four.

Russell,having hit a sparkling 92 in the last match,was in his stride straightaway,hitting Ashwin back over his head for a four.

In the next over,he collected a four and a six off Mishra.

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But Kumar came back to take the wickets of Carlton Baugh (39 off 57) and Russell off successive deliveries.

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