Ravi Rampaul and debutant Sunil Narine shared six wickets to bowl the West Indies to a crucial 16-run victory over India in the third one-day international on Monday. Fast bowler Rampaul finished with 4-57 and off-spinner Narine with 2-34 as the West Indies bowled India out for 244 despite Rohit Sharma’s solid 95 after posting a challenging 260-5 in the must-win match in Ahmedabad. India now lead 2-1 in the five-match series following their victories in the opening two games, with Monday’s defeat also ending their 11-match winning streak in one-day internationals at home. India earlier looked like restricting the West Indies to a modest total when the tourists reached 167-4 after 43 overs, but Darren Sammy (41 not out) and Andre Russell (40) plundered 79 off the last 34 balls.
The hosts were reeling at 105-6 but Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin (31) rallied their team with a 91-run stand for the seventh wicket before Narine struck a vital blow when he trapped Ashwin leg-before. The West Indies also let off the Indian pair during the early stages of their stand, with Sammy dropping Ashwin off Narine and then Sharma off paceman Kemar Roach. Sammy, however, made amends when he ran Sharma out with a direct-hit from mid-on at the non-striker’s end after the batsman had cracked one six and 10 fours in his 100-ball knock.
Abhimanyu Mithun (23) and Umesh Yadav (11 not out) gave some anxious moments to the West Indies with a 28-run stand for the last wicket before Rampaul ended the innings when he trapped Mithun leg-before. India were struggling at 8-2 in the second over following the first-ball dismissals of skipper Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, with Rampaul taking both the wickets with his first two deliveries. Narine, who was pressed into the attack after only four overs, did not have to wait long for his first wicket as he trapped in-form Virat Kohli (20) leg-before to reduce the hosts to 43-3.
