CRICKET WEST INDIES

The right-arm pacer took 4-57 off 8.5 overs -- his fourth haul of four or more wickets in ODIs this year. The home side fell for 244 in reply to West Indies’ 260-5 off 50 overs at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Monday night.
 

The highlight of the Windies innings was some superb power-hitting from skipper Darren Sammy with 41 not out off 17 balls and Andre Russell who hit 40 not out off 18 balls as a whopping 79 runs were scored from the last 34 balls of the innings.
 

In the second half of the match Rampaul took two big wickets with his first two deliveries -- captain Virender Sehwag caught behind and left-hander Gautam Gambhir trapped leg-before offering no stroke. Rampaul returned later in the night to have Suresh Raina caught behind and ended the match when he hit Abhimanyu Mithun in front to win a leg-before verdict.

 

Speaking after his heroics the 27-year-old Rampaul said the key factor was the early wickets, which put pressure on the Indian batting line-up.
 

“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. 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 and Tobago in the Champions League as well as in the World Cup has helped me a lot,” said Rampaul, who won the Man-of-the-Match award.
 

“Early wickets were the key. My strategy was to bowl wicket to wicket and it was good that I got the ball to swing as well. We wanted to have a go at the Indian middle order early. 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.”
 

So far this year Rampaul has made 14 ODI appearances and has 28 wickets at an average of 19.1 each and a strike rate of 24. Monday’s effort followed up the record-breaking 86 not out off 66 balls he made last week in the second ODI.
 

Rampaul was also full of praise for 23-year-old spinner Sunil Narine who was excellent in his first international match. He ended with two wickets for 34 off his full quota of 10 overs while bowling in the PowerPlay overs.

 

“He came in and did a very good job for the team. It was a great way to start your international career. 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 said.

 

The West Indies victory means they trail India 1-2, with two matches to be played. All three matches in the series so far have been close. India won the first match in Barabati Stadium in Cuttack by one wicket and were made to work hard for their five-wicket win in the second match at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

 

The two teams will travel to Indore on Tuesday where they will play the fourth match at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Thursday. The final match will be in played at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.