India aims for second ODI series win vs West Indies

05 July,2009 07:57 AM IST |   |  AFP

India are now one step away from a rare One-day International series victory in the Caribbean


India are now one step away from a rare One-day International series victory in the Caribbean.

The last time India won an ODI series in West Indies was 2002 when Sourav Ganguly led them to a 2-1 triumph in a five-match series, two games of which were abandoned due to rain.

A series triumph would also be a personal high for MS Dhoni after being under fire for his poor leadership during the Twenty20 World Cup, where his defending champion team failed to make the semi-finals.

Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, face West Indies in the fourth and final ODI on Sunday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground confident in the knowledge that they cannot lose the brief series.


The visitors won the rain-affected third ODI by six wickets on Friday at the same venue to take an unstoppable 2-1 lead in the series.

India had won the high-scoring opening ODI by 20 runs last Friday at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and two days later, West Indies rebounded to secure an eight-wicket victory in a low-scoring second ODI at the same venue.
Dhoni praised the overall effort on his side for prevailing in the match, despite having to battle the weather and the Duckworth-Lewis Method which calculates targets in weather-affected matches.

No pressure

"It was getting tight, and from our experience in Twenty20 cricket, we never felt under any pressure, although we required 11 from the last six balls," said Dhoni.

"Our final target (of 159 runs from 22 overs) was always achievable, once we had two specialist batsmen at the crease, and others like Harbhajan Singh to come, but it was hard to cope with the pressure," he added.

West Indies, on the other hand, have to finish the series with a win which would ensure the series ends in a tie.

"We are very disappointed about the way we lost the third ODI," said West Indies captain Chris Gayle.
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One-Day International series one step away India Caribbean Mahendra Singh Dhoni