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March 09, 2007 (Link to Scorecard)

India had a much easier work out against a tougher West Indies team than it had against newbies Netherlands in the same Trelawny Stadium in Greenfields. In the last warm-up game before the real World Cup, India were given a paltry target of 86 from the hosts.

The wicket at the Trelawny Stadium did have something to offer for the quick bowlers. There was some lateral movement off the deck as was seen during the match between India and Netherlands. But surprisingly, Brian Lara decided that his team would take first strike after having won the toss. Sourav Ganguly managed to be fit for the game while Tendulkar and Sreesanth were rested.

Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar were brought back into the side and with that there was no new ball for Irfan Pathan. Both Zaheer and Agarkar bowled splendidly well and deservingly got the wickets of Chanderpaul and Gayle respectively. Both these left handers fell in consecutive deliveries. Chanderpaul was first to go, caught down the legside while Gayle was forced to edge a pacy away going delivery from Agarkar. The common thing about both these dismissals was Mahendra Singh Dhoni diving to take a lovely catch. Brian Lara didn't bat against Kenya but he arrived in time to repair the damage done along with Sarwan. A couple of sweet drives from Lara announced his arrival but his joy was short lived as he was caught and bowled by Pathan. Lara had got 22 from 35 with 4 fours before he was caught in two minds whether to pull or flick a short delivery from Pathan that was patted back to the bowler.

The introduction of Munaf saw Sarwan getting squared up to be caught in the slips. Bravo followed him back to the hut with a uppish flick to mid wicket off the same bowler. India got a hat-trick of wickets starting from the fifth ball of the 18th over as Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels were dismissed in consecutive deliveries. Pollard and Samuels were out to Irfan Pathan while Ramdin became Munaf's third victim. Windies were bowled out in just 25.5 overs for 85. Munaf was outstanding with 4 for 10 from 6 overs which included two maidens. For Irfan Pathan, it was a confidence boosting figures of 3 for 25 but he was guilty of spraying the ball around.

In their chase, the men in blue lost Sehwag early, a casualty resulting from an ambitious drive on the up. It was a three ball-duck for Sehwag who was caught behind off Daren Powell. Dinesh Karthik got promoted ahead of other batsmen and he finished the game off along with Robin Uthappa. The Indian victory came after the lunch break and the two batsmen had to bat carefully as the bowlers got good pace and carry off the surface. Uthappa had got 35 from 43 with 3 fours and Karthik got 38 from 67 with 4 fours. The unbeaten 80-run partnership saw India clinch the easy victory in just 18.3 overs.

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