ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight, Group E:
Lord's: West Indies 156-3 beat India 153-7 by seven wickets
Coverage details: Highlights on BBC Two and online at 2335 BST
| By Jonathan Stevenson |
Dwayne Bravo produced a magnificent all-round display to earn West Indies victory against holders India in their World Twenty20 contest at Lord's.
India opted to bat first and struggled as they were reduced to 29-3, before Yuvraj Singh (67) played a world-class knock to lift them up to 153-7.
Bravo (4-38) was the pick of the bowlers and he produced with the bat as he shared 58 with Lendl Simmons (44).
He finished unbeaten on 66 as West Indies won with eight balls to spare.
India now face a crucial Super Eights Group E match against England at Lord's on Sunday, while West Indies meet in-form South Africa at The Oval on Saturday.
The victory was just deserts for the men from the Caribbean, whose recent woes against England have been quickly consigned to history.
Chris Gayle's men played exceptionally throughout and got off to a scintillating start in the field, quickly removing India's big guns Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.
Gambhir's wicket was thanks to a sensational piece of fielding from Simmons, the 24-year-old running away from the wicket to take a steepling catch over his shoulder.
When Yuvraj came together with his captain Mahendra Dhoni they needed a partnership and they got it, though the skipper was painfully short of touch.
He was struggling to get the ball off the square and after crawling to 11 from 23 deliveries, it was almost a blessed relief when he holed out on the cover-point boundary.
Dhoni's departure seemed to free Yuvraj's shackles as he and Yusuf Pathan set about lifting a run rate which was hovering around the five mark, way below a respectable total.
Yusuf started the assault as he launched Bravo into the evening sky and Yuvraj needed no second invitation, effortlessly clipping Jerome Taylor over mid-wicket for an outrageous six.
India managed to post a decent total by scoring 56 from their last five overs, including fours from the last three balls of the innings from Harbhajan Singh.
India then struck early to continue their momentum, Andre Fletcher lasting only two balls as he was caught by the irrepressible Yuvraj at mid-off for a duck.
 Yuvraj's magical knock ensured India posted a respectable total |
West Indies were looking to Gayle again, and their captain produced a couple of remarkable pieces of timing to send the ball whistling to the boundary.
But after Harbhajan had bowled only the second maiden of the tournament to him, he lost all fluency and was caught after top-edging an ugly hoick off Yusuf.
Bravo, full of confidence, was promoted in the order and with Simmons in tow he set about showing why, as he played some magnificent cover-drives to start upping the run-rate.
Simmons played his share of exotic strokes too, but after the two Trinidadians had put on 58 together he holed out in the deep, top-edging an uncultured swat off Pragyan Ojha.
Bravo continued undeterred with a glorious straight drive for six the very next ball and he brought up his 50 soon after, launching Ishant Sharma back over his head for another maximum.
With Shivnarine Chanderpaul doing his bit from the other end, Bravo held his nerve and finished with a majestic lofted cover-drive for six to ease West Indies to a wonderful victory.
Gayle revealed his delight at seeing Bravo and Fidel Edwards, who picked up two early Indian wickets, produce such fine displays.
"It's not all the time that you're going to get off to a flyer," said Gayle ."It didn't happen for me today, but I'm really happy some of our younger players stepped up and it's really good for the team.
"Fidel picked up wickets at the top of the order. The majority of India's players are very good batsmen, but taking key wickets is very important."
Dhoni admitted the result puts his side under pressure to qualify for the semi-finals, but said he has confidence they will still go through.
"It will bring out the best in us," he said. "We were under a lot of pressure in the last World Cup when it was do or die every game, but we got through to the final and won it."
12-06-2009 at Lord's
| India Innings 153 for 7 (20.0 overs) |
| West Indies Innings 156 for 3 (18.4 overs) |
Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | |||
| Gambhir | c Simmons | b DJ Bravo | 14 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| R Sharma | c Simmons | b F Edwards | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Raina | c Ramdin | b F Edwards | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Yuvraj | c and b | F Edwards | 67 | 43 | 6 | 2 |
| Dhoni | c Fletcher | b DJ Bravo | 11 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Y Pathan | b DJ Bravo | 31 | 23 | 3 | 1 | |
| I Pathan | c Simmons | b DJ Bravo | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Singh | not out | 13 | 4 | 3 | 0 | |
| Zaheer | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 4w 1lb | 5 | ||||
| Total | for 7 | 153 | (20.0 ovs) | |||
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Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | |||
| Gayle | c Zaheer | b Y Pathan | 22 | 28 | 4 | 0 |
| Fletcher | c Yuvraj | b I Pathan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Simmons | c I Pathan | b Ojha | 44 | 37 | 5 | 0 |
| DJ Bravo | not out | 66 | 36 | 4 | 3 | |
| Chanderpaul | not out | 18 | 9 | 3 | 0 | |
| Extras | 3w 3lb | 6 | ||||
| Total | for 3 | 156 | (18.4 ovs) | |||
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Umpires: Aleem Dar, R E Koertzen, B C Broad, M R Benson
India: Gambhir, R Sharma, Raina, Yuvraj, Dhoni (C/W), Y Pathan, I Pathan, Singh, Zaheer, I Sharma, Ojha
West Indies: Simmons, Fletcher, Gayle (C), Chanderpaul, Sarwan, DJ Bravo, Pollard, Ramdin (W), Taylor, Benn, F Edwards
