Grading the West Indies in India: the third ODI

The West Indies finally got it right! In the two previous games they had put themselves in good positions to win but always seemed to lack the killer instinct. This time around, despite the heroics of the Indian lower order, they held on to win by 16 runs in Ahmedabad and reduce the deficit to 2-1 in the five-match series.

Lendl Simmons

A rare failure for the Trinidadian opener, the team’s most consistent ODI batsman of 2011! He did not have much to do in the field and was not required to bowl more than two overs of his gentle medium-pace.

Grade: F

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Danza Hyatt

Promoted to open the batting in place of the omitted Adrian Barath, the stocky Jamaican hung around 39 balls for his 20 before gifting his wicket with a careless waft at a leg-side delivery.

Grade: D

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Marlon Samuels

He used his newly found irregular methods to effectively counter the early threat of the Indian seamers. After all the efforts he put into reaching 58 however he threw it away with an overly ambitious shot. In the field he claimed the critical wicket of Partiv Patel with a beauty and bowled well in spells.

Grade: B

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Darren Bravo

The left-hander, in partnership with Samuels, was slowly laying a foundation for a middle-order push when a hamstring strain cut short his innings on 26. He played no further part in the match.

Grade: I

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Denesh Ramdin

The wicket-keeper finally got some runs under his belt in the series, buckling down for a workman-like 38 while adding 55 for the fourth wicket with Kieron Pollard. He also put in some good work behind the stumps, the most notable being the diving catch down the leg-side to get rid of the unlucky Suresh Raina.

Grade: B-

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Kieron Pollard

Pollard got another start but just when he was attempting to switch gears he was well taken in the outfield by Rajendra Jadeja. He was once again good in the field but was only required to bowl one over, which proved to be pretty tidy.

Grade: C+

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Andre Russell

Today he was half of the blitzkrieg that hit the Indians for 79 from the last 34 balls of the innings. His 40 came from 18 balls and helped prove the difference in the final results. His four overs were expensive but his real contribution in the field came from a smart piece of work at point which resulted in the run out of Jadeja.

Grade: B

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Darren Sammy

The captain stepped up big time, smashing 41 from 17 with some clean orthodox hitting which, alongside Russell’s, helped carry WI to a par score on that ground. He almost threw the game away when he dropped Rohit Sharma on 37 (one of two misses) but made amends later with a bullet-like direct hit that ran out the Indian danger man for a classy 95.

Grade: B-

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Ravi Rampaul

The burly pacer had the Man-of-the-Match awarded snatched from his grasp in the previous game, but was not allowing anyone to steal his thunder this time around. He was not called on to bat after the heroics of Sammy and Russell so he set about making his impact with the ball. He did that tellingly with the wickets of Sehwag and Gambhir from his first two deliveries and ended the match by cutting short the dangerous cameo of tail-ender Mithun. His four wickets were sufficient for the award!

Grade: A-

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Kemar Roach

Although a bit expensive he bowled with real pace which was evident in the scorcher that knocked over Vinay Kumar in his final spell.

Grade: C+

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Sunil Narine

The debutant grabbed his opportunity immediately, troubling all the batsmen with his each way spin. His two wickets were critical too: the inform Virat Kohli and the stubborn Ravi Ashwin, the latter to break a seventh wicket stand of 91 with Sharma.

Grade: B

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