Same West Indies, different day

Familiar batting collapse sets up Windies-Pakistan quarter-final

CHENNAI, India (CMC):

Another inexplicable West Indies batting collapse betrayed a career-best spell from Ravi Rampaul and another fine innings from Devon Smith, condemning them to an 80-run defeat against India in the World Cup yesterday.

Smith continued his rich vein with 81 from 97 balls as West Indies, chasing 269 for victory, were dismissed for 188 with 42 balls remaining in the final group match of the competition at the Chidambaram Stadium.

The visitors lost their last eight wickets for 34 runs in the space of 76 deliveries, dramatically slumping from the relative comfort of 154 for two in the 31st over - again failing to beat a side rated higher than them in the official one-day international rankings.

"We again [lost a cluster of wickets] and this is a concern for us," said West Indies captain Darren Sammy.

"We must, however, pick ourselves up from these two losses and get ourselves together again. We have reached the knockout stage, which was our objective, and anything can happen from here."

Superior net run rate

The result confirmed a place for West Indies in the quarter-finals, after they held onto fourth place ahead of Bangladesh, with six points and a superior net run rate.

South Africa topped Group B with 10 points, India finished second on nine points and England ended in third on seven points.

West Indies have three days to get their act together before they face Group A winners Pakistan in the first quarter-final on Wednesday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh.

"We are still in the tournament having reached the knockout stage, but we really have to tighten up and tighten up very, very quickly because we are facing Pakistan, so we need to bring our 'A' game," said Sammy.

"We are playing in Bangladesh, where we had success earlier in the tournament and this would give us a bit of confidence; and, hopefully, we can put together an equally sound performance in that game and reach the semi-finals."

Rampaul was playing his first match in the tournament, following an illness that sidelined strike bowler Kemar Roach.

Responding to the challenge

He responded to the challenge of leading the attack and captured five wickets for 51 runs from 10 overs. India were dismissed for 268 in 49.1 overs after they chose to bat.

Rampaul, however, had to share the spotlight with Yuvraj Singh. The Indian left-hander defied dehydration and broke his drought of hundreds, when he gathered 113 from 123 balls that included 10 fours and two sixes.

Fortune then favoured West Indies early in their chase, when international newcomer Kirk Edwards survived a run-out chance on seven, after umpire Simon Taufel of Australia failed to ask for help from compatriot and TV replay umpire Bruce Oxenford.

INDIA (maximum 50 overs)

G. Gambhir c Russell b Rampaul 22S. Tendulkar c wkpr Thomas b Rampaul 2V. Kohli b Rampaul 59Yuvraj Singh c and b Pollard 113+M. Dhoni st Thomas b Bishoo 22S. Raina c Rampaul bSammy 4Y. Pathan b Rampaul 11Harbhajan Singh c Pollard b Russell 3R. Ashwin not out 10Z. Khan b Rampaul 5M. Patel b Russell 1

Extras: (b5, lb2, w9) 16

TOTAL: (all out, 49.1 overs) 268

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Tendulkar, 0.6 overs); 2-51 (Gambhir, 8.3); 3-173 (Kohli, 32.2); 4-218 (+Dhoni, 41.4); 5-232 (Raina, 43.5); 6-240 (Yuvraj Singh, 44.6); 7-251 (Pathan, 46.4); 8-259 (Harbhajan Singh, 47.5); 9-267 (Khan, 48.5)

Bowling: Rampaul 10-0-51-5 (w5); Benn 4-0-32-0; Russell 9.1-1-46-2 (w2); Sammy 6-0-35-1 (w1); Bishoo 10-0-48-1; Pollard 10-0-49-1 (w1)

WEST INDIES (target: 269 off 50 overs)

D.S. Smith b Khan 81K. Edwards lbw b Ashwin 17D.M. Bravo c Harbhajan Singh b Raina 22R. Sarwan c Ashwin b Khan 39K. Pollard c Pathan b Harbhajan Singh 1+D. Thomas stDhoni b Yuvraj Singh 2D. Sammy run out (Raina) 2A. Russell c Pathan b Yuvraj 1S. Benn c Patel b Khan 3D. Bishoo not out 6R. Rampaul b Ashwin 1

Extra: (lb8, w6) 14

TOTAL: (all out, 43 overs) 188

Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Edwards, 6.2 overs); 2-91 (D.M. Bravo, 16.6); 3-154 (Smith, 30.3); 4-157 (Pollard, 31.5); 5-160 (+Thomas, 34.2); 6-162 (Sammy, 35.3); 7-165 (Russell, 36.6); 8-179 (Benn, 39.6 overs); 9-182 (Sarwan, 41.1)

Bowling: Ashwin 10-0-41-2 (w1); Khan 6-0-26-3 (w3); Harbhajan Singh 9-1-35-1 (w1); Pathan 7-0-28-0; Raina 2-0-12-1; Yuvraj Singh 4-0-18-2; Patel 5-0-20-0 (w1)

Result: India won by 80 runs

Points: India 2, West Indies 0

Toss: India

Debut: K. Edwards (West Indies)

Man-of-the-Match: Yuvraj Singh (India)

Umpires: S. Davis, S. Taufel

TV umpire: B. Oxenford

Matchreferee: R. Mahanama

Reserve umpire: S. Tarapore.