West Indies Win 3rd ODI By 16 Runs

Narine kept building the pressure - Rampaul

West Indies captain Darren Sammy and fast bowlerRavi Rampaul have praised the offspinner Sunil Narine, whose performance on debut helped his team win its first match on the tour of India. Narine took 2 for 34 in the third ODI in Ahmedabad, where West Indies won by 16 runs to keep the five-match series alive at 2-1.

"It was a good fight back from the boys. The way we batted, that spell from Rampaul, [Marlon] Samuels bowled well, and the debutant Narine also. It was a team effort," Sammy said. "Narine came here [to India] in the CLT20 and bowled in the pressure situations. He's used to it, it's a role he has performed for T&T [Trinidad & Tobago]."

Narine, 23, began his spell with the new ball during the mandatory Powerplay and also bowled during the bowling and batting Powerplays. He picked up the wickets of Virat Kohli and R Ashwin, after the No. 7 batsman had added 91 runs with Rohit Sharma to bring India back into the chase.

"He [Narine] came in and did a very good job for the team. It was a great way to start your international career," Rampaul said. "He bowled early and got a key wicket and came back at the end, there, to pick up another vital wicket for us. He kept building the pressure on the Indian batsmen and it paid off for us."

Rampaul had struck body blows himself by dismissing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with his first two deliveries in the second over of India's chase. The hosts were 8 for 2 chasing 261 and were set back severely. Rampaul returned to dismiss Suresh Raina and then picked up the final wicket, that of Abhimanyu Mithun, to finish with 4 for 57 in 8.5 overs. Mithun had scored 23 off 16 balls, and before his dismissal, India needed 16 off 20 deliveries with one wicket in hand to win the match and the series.

"I would say getting those early breakthroughs proved to be the key point in the match, when we bowled. We got up to a good score thanks to some great batting from Sammy and Russell but we still had a big job to do with the ball," Rampaul, who was Man of the Match, said. "I am used to bowling on these slow, low wickets as they are similar to what I play on in Trinidad. Also, the experience of playing here [in India] for Trinidad & Tobago in the Champions League as well as in the World Cup has helped me a lot.

"My strategy was to bowl wicket to wicket and it was good that I got the ball to swing as well. Finally, we have a win on the tour and it means a lot to us as a team. We came close on quite a few occasions and tonight we got the reward. We will look for more in the coming matches."

Rampaul has 28 wickets at an average of 19 in 14 ODIs in 2011, and Monday's four-wicket haul came after he had broken the record for the highest score by a No. 10, an unbeaten 86 off 66 balls in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam.

That West Indies had a competitive target to defend at Motera was because of a late assault from allrounders Sammy and Andre Russell. Sammy scored 41 off 17 balls and Russell 40 off 18 as 93 runs came off the final seven overs. Sehwag, the India captain, said his bowlers had not executed their plans.

"When two big hitters like Russell and Sammy were batting, it was difficult to bowl, they were connecting well," Sehwag said. "I told my boys to bowl as many yorkers as they could. They tried but couldn't get perfect yorkers, but the team fought really well."

Sehwag, however, took responsibility for the defeat, saying the top-order collapse, which he was part of, was the most significant problem. "It is very hard to chase when your top order fails. In the last three games, our lower order's contribution has been more than the top order and we need to look at ourselves. One of the top order batsman has to bat for 30-40 overs."

India Vs West Indies 3rd ODI Cricinfo,Live Score,Ahmedabad

50 overs West Indies 260 for 5 (Samuels 58, Sammy 41*, Russell 40*) v India

It took Darren Sammy and Andre Russell 5.4 overs of mayhem to undo an afternoon of impressive work from India, and leave the hosts chasing a tricky 261 to take the series. The pair came together after Ravindra Jadeja pulled off an outfield catch for the ages to remove Kieron Pollard, West Indies' most dangerous batsman on paper. Sammy and Russell proceeded to test that assumption with a partnership of delightful ferocity that yielded 79 in all, and 52 off the last three overs, giving West Indies a chance to win their fourth win in five visits to Ahmedabad.

Until the Sammy-Russell show, West Indies' innings followed a rather strange progression. Seam and swing weren't supposed to be part of the agenda on a sweltering afternoon in Ahmedabad, but someone forgot to tell India's fast bowlers. The top order had to contend with away seamers from Vinay Kumar, pace and swing from Umesh Yadav, and a raft of indippers from Abhimanyu Mithun. They chose caution over valour, and were restricted to a slow start, before India's spinners backed up the seamers well, as India kept winning the big moments. The best batsman on display, Marlon Samuels, exited at the start of the batting Powerplay. The man most likely to assist him, Darren Bravo, was forced to retire hurt with a hamstring strain. The innings was faltering badly when Jadeja's brilliance ended Pollard's stay. The tide was about to turn, though.

West Indies' cause was aided by the inexperience in the Indian ranks as Yadav and Mithun delivered despicable lengths in the slog. Sammy wound up for the fun by redirecting Vinay for two fours in the 47th over, before Russell carted Yadav for a monster six in the next over. Next, Sammy turned his attention towards Mithun, scything a wide ball, and hammering a length delivery for fours. He then unfurled two sixes dripping with typical Caribbean audacity, on either side of the wicket - flat-batting a wide ball over cover, before merrily whiplashing a full toss on the pads over midwicket - to take 23 off the over. Russell then went ballistic in the last over, drilling a near yorker down the ground and fore-handing a length ball for fours, before teeing off towards the press box, as life came a full circle for Yadav.

Full report to follow ...

25 overs West Indies 93 for 2 (Samuels 46*, Bravo 23*) v India

Seam and swing weren't supposed to be part of the agenda on a sweltering afternoon in Ahmedabad, but someone forgot to tell India's fast bowlers. West Indies' top order had to contend with away seamers from Vinay Kumar, pace and swing from Umesh Yadav, and a raft of indippers from Abhimanyu Mithun. They chose caution over valour, and were restricted to a slow start, but had wickets in hand to shift gears in the second half of their innings.

With the India selectors expected to meet later to pick Praveen Kumar's replacement for the Australia tour, Vinay and Mithun - who came on first-change - had an extra incentive to impress. Both of them made early incisions in their opening spells, but Umesh Yadav, already booked on the flight to Australia, was once again the most captivating bowler on view.

Vinay started off with a series of sprightly away seamers, and Lendl Simmons succumbed early to one of them, edging loosely through to Parthiv Patel. Thereafter, Yadav methodically tied down Danza Hyatt and Marlon Samuels, and in the process revealed a new dimension to his bowling. Having caught the eye with pace in the previous games, Yadav chose to drop his speed a few times and let the ball float and curve in the air. He squared up both Hyatt and Samuels with drastic swing, while Vinay worked away with seam.

Hyatt was mostly shot-less in his troubled stay as a make-shift opener, with a sparkling cover drive and a mow over midwicket standing out amidst several meek pushes to cover. His listless innings ended in listless fashion, as he squeezed an inswinger from Mithun that was heading harmlessly down the leg side, through to Parthiv. Mithun's average pace was in the mid-to-high 120s, and his inability to get the ball to straighten reduced his threat.

As has been his method in recent times, Samuels chose to counter the movement with an outrageously open stance deep in his crease. He opened up against Mithun, lofting him over mid-off and flaying him through point for successive fours, but receded into his shell until Yadav came on for a second spell in the bowling Powerplay. He heaved successive length balls in the 19th over through the leg side for a six and a four, before crashing a misdirected slower ball through point. West Indies took 16 off that over to finally give the innings some semblance of momentum.

Darren Bravo looked at ease against spin, but was struggling with a left hamstring niggle that affected his mobility. In the 22nd over, R Ashwin fluffled a run-out chance from about ten yards away from the stumps, with Bravo stranded mid-pitch. It was an important reprieve, given the lack of batting pedigree in West Indies' line-up.