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January 21, 2007 (1st ODI Scorecard)

Shivnarine Chanderpaul's heroic innings of 149 not out was not enough to see West Indies pull off a sensational victory at Nagpur in the first ODI. Windies fell just 14 runs short of chasing down a massive target of 339. It wasn't that big a total as the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground's pitch as expected was an absolute belter with little in it for the bowlers. The crowd got what they wanted, a record total of 662 runs coming with 67 boundaries and 16 sixes! And not to mention the strong return of one of their favourites - Sourav Ganguly, who didn't disappoint his followers by coming up with a near century.

It was a right move from Brian Lara to field first as the wicket would stay good right till the end. India went with the new opening combination of the flamboyant Gautam Gambhir and the Royal Bengal Tiger, Sourav Ganguly. Gambhir was as usual aggressive in his approach, driving fluently and pulling comfortably. Ganguly, having to prove his critics wrong, took some time to settle down, but once he got his eye, the Ganguly of the past was back roaring! A delightful exhibition of shots was on display from the two left handers as India started to build upon the superb opening partnership. Gambhir was the first to depart, at a team total of 144 in the 25th over. The 25-year-old scored his 4th fifty in what was his 14th ODI, he made 69 from 75 with 10 fours. Gambhir fell playing a loose cut shot in Chris Gayle's first over of the match. Sachin Tendulkar, coming in at no.3 consolidated India's position by adding up 70 runs with Ganguly before he fell in the 30s, leg before to Gayle as he tried to be a bit fancy with a sweep shot. After another seven deliveries, Sourav Ganguly had to return back to the pavilion, falling short of his crease and falling short of a 23rd ODI hundred by a whisker. Sourav's 98 had come with 11 fours and three lovely sixes in a 110-ball innings.

The home team ended up at the loss of just the three wickets as they piled up 338. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid with their breezy knocks had put on an unbeaten stand of 119 runs in 71 balls! The last five overs were plundered for 71 runs! Dhoni had got 62 to his name which came in just 42 balls with three fours and as many as four sixes! Rahul Dravid's knock was all about timing and he wasn't far behind Dhoni in smacking the sixes. The Indian Skipper collected three sixes and four boundaries in a 35-ball 54. For Dravid, it was a 74th ODI fifty, a welcome comeback to form after a disappointing show in SA. Jerome Taylor, considered as the best West Indian bowler at the moment was taken for 71 in his 10 overs and Dwayne Bravo, another star performer was hammered for 41 in 4 overs.

Even though, India were defending 338, it was never going to be a smooth road to victory when the bowlers are against a successful opening combination of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. While one batsman was a power hitter, the other was an immaculate timer of the ball. Windies got off to a wonderful start leaving Dravid to delay the second Powerplay block. Harbhajan Singh came to the rescue of the Indians in his second over by forcing Gayle to nick his off break to the slips. Gayle by then had ran away with 52 runs from 46 balls with 10 fours. The first wicket fell at the score of 80 in the 13th over. Harbhajan struck again in quick time by foxing Runako Morton with a doosra. Those two wickets from the off spinner allowed Rahul Dravid to get rid of his power play blocks. The inform Marlon Samuels kept West Indies in a strong position by putting up a solid 73 runs for the third wicket before he was cleaned up by an inswinger from Zaheer Khan. Samuels got 40 but had played 60 deliveries for that which had got the required run rate to climb up.

West Indies had to get almost half of the target in the remaining 100 balls, which was a very difficult task. But Brian Lara threatened to accomplish that with Chanderpaul. It was only a clever thinking from Tendulkar, who fired a quicker delivery to outsmart Lara that had saved India. Lara cracked 31 from 23 balls with a couple of fours and sixes. Chanderpaul was the lone man fighting from this stage onwards as he lost a couple of potentially hard hitting batsmen in Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith and West Indies slipped to 269 for 6 in the 45th over. Eventually, the match was won by the home side by just 14 runs. Chanderpaul was a valiant hero for remaining unconquered on a 136-ball 149 (containing 16 fours and three sixes). It was his 5th ODI hundred and the southpaw had fallen just the one run short of equaling his highest score of 150! He deservingly got the Man of the Match award for his great knock. The Indian bowling took a beating. Sreesanth and Ajit Agarkar were smacked for more than 70 runs in their 10 overs quota. Zaheer Khan was the only one to manage economical figures among all the bowlers with figures of 10-2-48-2. Now the two teams move onto Cuttack for the second match which is on the 24th.  

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