Dhoni hit a six and three fours in his 45-run knock that came off 56 balls. (AP Photo)
NEW
DELHI: Reaffirming his status as one of the best finishers of the game,
captain MS Dhoni led India to a four-wicket victory against the West
Indies in their World Cup Pool B match at the WACA in Perth on Friday.
Scorecard | As it happened
With this victory, India booked their quarterfinal berth in the World Cup, as Mohammed Shami was chosen the Man of the match for taking three wickets in his eight overs.
Full Coverage: ICC World Cup 2015
Dhoni, who arrived at the crease when India were in a spot of bother at 78/4, curbed his natural instincts and steadied the Indian innings taking calculated singles, while hitting a six and three fours in his 45-run knock that came off 56 balls.
India's run chase got off to a poor start as they lost Shikhar Dhawan in the fifth over edging a Jerome Taylor delivery to second slip for Darren Sammy to take the catch.
Taylor then dismissed Rohit Sharma in his next over having him caught behind by Denesh Ramdin.
Virat Kohli hit five fours in his 36-ball 33 before he mistimed an Andre Russell delivery to deep square leg for Marlon Samuels to take the catch.
India lost their fourth wicket when Ajinkya Rahane edged a Kemar Roach delivery to keeper Ramdin. On field umpire Nigel Llong adjudged Rahane out who promptly asked for a review and even though snickometer showed no edge, Rahane was adjudged out.
Suresh Raina, his weakness against short-pitched deliveries well known, was welcomed with a barrage of bouncers. Raina stood up to the challenge hitting two good fours, before Dwayne Smith had him caught behind by Ramdin.
Russell took his second wicket when he had Ravindra Jadeja caught by Samuels at deep square leg to be reduced to 134/6 in 29.3 overs.
Earlier, Indian bowling unit continued its splendid show as it bundled out a below-par West Indies for a paltry 182.
Indian bowlers once again dominated the proceedings from the start once Jason Holder elected to bat on a fast and bouncy WACA strip.
The West Indies batsmen never looked like being in the game as they fell one after the other, failing to gauge the bounce of the track and getting all out in 44.2 overs.
A fit-again Mohammed Shami (3/35 in 8 overs), coming back after a match's rest, was the best of the lot as he troubled the batsman with both pace and bounce.
He bowled a deadly first-spell where he took both Dwayne Smith (6) and Chris Gayle (21) out of the equation, to seize the momentum in favour of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side.
He was complemented well by the quartet of Umesh Yadav (2/42 in 10 overs), Mohit Sharma (1/35), Ravichandran Ashwin (1/38) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/27) as West Indies looked no better than a minnow side during the entire duration of their innings.
Young Holder (57) did play his heart out as his gutsy half-century provided some respect to his team's total. He added 51 runs for the ninth wicket with Jerome Taylor (11) as West Indies managed to cross the 175-run mark after being 124 for eight at one stage.
The way Indian team sorted Gayle out was all about strategy and execution. Aided by the bounce, both Yadav and Shami mostly pitched it on good length as Gayle found it difficult to tee off in his customary 'stand and deliver' style.
The extra bounce saw a couple of slashes go towards third man but fielders couldn't complete the catches. The big-hitter played and missed a few. It took him 18 balls to hit his first four over mid-off when Yadav bowled in the slot. Gayle also hit Shami over mid-on while pulling Yadav over deep mid-wicket for a six.
Having lost his opening partner Smith and Marlon Samuels (2), Gayle showed some urgency but struggled big time. At this point of time, Dhoni removed his deep fine leg fielder and made it stand at deep square leg. The move paid dividends as there was an intriguing battle going on between Gayle and Shami.
Shami bowled one short of length which kicked up and Gayle top edged a pull shot which went to Mohit at deep square-leg, placed specifically for that catch.
Before Gayle became the third victim, Smith was done in by that extra bounce that Shami generated with practically no room to play the square cut. The resultant edge went to Dhoni as a regulation catch.
Samuels (2) was run-out when he misjudged a single after Gayle's mistimed pull-shot fell just short of a diving Mohit running forward from his mid-wicket position. By the time Gayle refused the single, Samuels had nearly come upto him and there was no way that he could have made it back.
Denesh Ramdin (0) was the fourth wicket to fall as Yadav bowled a fullish delivery and the wicketkeeper-batsman went for an expansive drive only to be played on. With 35 for four at the start of the 10th over, there was no chance for a West Indies revival after that.
Slightly built left-hander Jonathan Carter (21) had a 32-run stand for the fifth wicket with Lendl Simmons (9) in which the former was the dominant partner.
Simmons became Mohit's first victim when his hook shot landed straight at Yadav's throat at the deep fine leg boundary as West Indies were 67 for five.
While facing Ashwin, Carter was repeatedly trying to play the slog sweep without taking the bounce into account. He misread the bounce and paid price for it as his top-edged sweep was easily taken by Shami at deep fine leg boundary to make 71 for six.
Andre Russell (8) hit Mohit for a six but then tried to hoick Jadeja over deep mid-wicket to be taken by Virat running forward from his position at long-off boundary.
At the halfway stage, West Indies were down in the dumps at 88 for seven and it was then left to Holder to salvage the innings partly.
Scorecard | As it happened
With this victory, India booked their quarterfinal berth in the World Cup, as Mohammed Shami was chosen the Man of the match for taking three wickets in his eight overs.
Full Coverage: ICC World Cup 2015
Dhoni, who arrived at the crease when India were in a spot of bother at 78/4, curbed his natural instincts and steadied the Indian innings taking calculated singles, while hitting a six and three fours in his 45-run knock that came off 56 balls.
India's run chase got off to a poor start as they lost Shikhar Dhawan in the fifth over edging a Jerome Taylor delivery to second slip for Darren Sammy to take the catch.
Taylor then dismissed Rohit Sharma in his next over having him caught behind by Denesh Ramdin.
Virat Kohli hit five fours in his 36-ball 33 before he mistimed an Andre Russell delivery to deep square leg for Marlon Samuels to take the catch.
India lost their fourth wicket when Ajinkya Rahane edged a Kemar Roach delivery to keeper Ramdin. On field umpire Nigel Llong adjudged Rahane out who promptly asked for a review and even though snickometer showed no edge, Rahane was adjudged out.
Suresh Raina, his weakness against short-pitched deliveries well known, was welcomed with a barrage of bouncers. Raina stood up to the challenge hitting two good fours, before Dwayne Smith had him caught behind by Ramdin.
Russell took his second wicket when he had Ravindra Jadeja caught by Samuels at deep square leg to be reduced to 134/6 in 29.3 overs.
Earlier, Indian bowling unit continued its splendid show as it bundled out a below-par West Indies for a paltry 182.
Indian bowlers once again dominated the proceedings from the start once Jason Holder elected to bat on a fast and bouncy WACA strip.
The West Indies batsmen never looked like being in the game as they fell one after the other, failing to gauge the bounce of the track and getting all out in 44.2 overs.
A fit-again Mohammed Shami (3/35 in 8 overs), coming back after a match's rest, was the best of the lot as he troubled the batsman with both pace and bounce.
He bowled a deadly first-spell where he took both Dwayne Smith (6) and Chris Gayle (21) out of the equation, to seize the momentum in favour of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side.
He was complemented well by the quartet of Umesh Yadav (2/42 in 10 overs), Mohit Sharma (1/35), Ravichandran Ashwin (1/38) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/27) as West Indies looked no better than a minnow side during the entire duration of their innings.
Young Holder (57) did play his heart out as his gutsy half-century provided some respect to his team's total. He added 51 runs for the ninth wicket with Jerome Taylor (11) as West Indies managed to cross the 175-run mark after being 124 for eight at one stage.
The way Indian team sorted Gayle out was all about strategy and execution. Aided by the bounce, both Yadav and Shami mostly pitched it on good length as Gayle found it difficult to tee off in his customary 'stand and deliver' style.
The extra bounce saw a couple of slashes go towards third man but fielders couldn't complete the catches. The big-hitter played and missed a few. It took him 18 balls to hit his first four over mid-off when Yadav bowled in the slot. Gayle also hit Shami over mid-on while pulling Yadav over deep mid-wicket for a six.
Having lost his opening partner Smith and Marlon Samuels (2), Gayle showed some urgency but struggled big time. At this point of time, Dhoni removed his deep fine leg fielder and made it stand at deep square leg. The move paid dividends as there was an intriguing battle going on between Gayle and Shami.
Shami bowled one short of length which kicked up and Gayle top edged a pull shot which went to Mohit at deep square-leg, placed specifically for that catch.
Before Gayle became the third victim, Smith was done in by that extra bounce that Shami generated with practically no room to play the square cut. The resultant edge went to Dhoni as a regulation catch.
Samuels (2) was run-out when he misjudged a single after Gayle's mistimed pull-shot fell just short of a diving Mohit running forward from his mid-wicket position. By the time Gayle refused the single, Samuels had nearly come upto him and there was no way that he could have made it back.
Denesh Ramdin (0) was the fourth wicket to fall as Yadav bowled a fullish delivery and the wicketkeeper-batsman went for an expansive drive only to be played on. With 35 for four at the start of the 10th over, there was no chance for a West Indies revival after that.
Slightly built left-hander Jonathan Carter (21) had a 32-run stand for the fifth wicket with Lendl Simmons (9) in which the former was the dominant partner.
Simmons became Mohit's first victim when his hook shot landed straight at Yadav's throat at the deep fine leg boundary as West Indies were 67 for five.
While facing Ashwin, Carter was repeatedly trying to play the slog sweep without taking the bounce into account. He misread the bounce and paid price for it as his top-edged sweep was easily taken by Shami at deep fine leg boundary to make 71 for six.
Andre Russell (8) hit Mohit for a six but then tried to hoick Jadeja over deep mid-wicket to be taken by Virat running forward from his position at long-off boundary.
At the halfway stage, West Indies were down in the dumps at 88 for seven and it was then left to Holder to salvage the innings partly.
