Scorecard: India vs West Indies, 1st ODI
Yuvraj Singh hit a rollicking 131-run knock as India pipped the West Indies by 20 runs in a thrilling first one-day international to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series in Kingston on Friday.
Leaving behind their pathetic showing in the Twenty20 World Cup, Indian batsmen fired on all cylinders as they trampled the West Indies attack to reach an intimidating 339 for six after opting to bat at Sabina Park.
However, defending even such a massive total proved quite a task for the Indians as they just about managed to bowl the hosts out for 319 in 48.1 overs.
It was a spirited chase by the hosts, for whom Shivnarine Chanderpaul top-scored with 63 and Denesh Ramdin played a sparkling 29-run knock down the order.
Earlier, Yuvraj treated the host bowlers with utter disdain and clobbered them for seven huge sixes and 10 boundaries, apart from sharing a crucial 135-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (67), to shape the Indian innings.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41), Yusuf Pathan (40 not out) and Harbhajan Singh (21 not out) also chipped in with useful contributions.
With the wicket of Chanderpaul in the 36th over it looked all over for the hosts, but their lower order batted with steely resolve and made it an edge-of-the-seat contest.
The West Indies required 21 off the last two overs with one wicket in hand, but Ashish Nehra dismissed Ramdin with the first ball of the 49th over to bring huge relief for his side.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and Runako Morton (42) did well and gave the West Indies a good start but could not convert their scores into big knocks.
Jerome Taylor (21) and David Bernard (19), batting at number seven and nine respectively, did their best but their efforts went in vain in the end.
For India, Nehra (3/49) and Yusuf Pathan (3/56) took three wickets apiece.
It rained sixes as 23 were hit in the match. Only thrice has a one-dayer witnessed more sixes.
The West Indies chase began in right earnest, with Chris Gayle (37) and Morton quickly putting up 65 for the first wicket before comeback-man Asish Nehra got rid of the skipper.
Gayle miscued a pull off the left-arm paceman and Harbhajan took a smart running catch at mid-on.
Morton's entertaining knock, in which he hit four fours and a six, ended when Yusuf had him caught by the wicketkeeper.
The hosts maintained a good run-rate to keep their hopes alive but continued losing their settled batsmen.
The big-hitting Dwayne Bravo (8) was extremely unlucky as he got out to a high full toss from Ishant Sharma which the umpires failed to call a no-ball.
Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo, making his debut, added 36 quick runs. But just when the partnership started looking threatening Yusuf separated the pair by dismissing the former, ending all hopes for the hosts.
Chanderpaul hit Yusuf for a massive six but failed to do an encore, hitting straight to Ravinder Jadeja at deep mid-wicket, but not before hitting three fours and three sixes in his 59-ball knock.
Earlier, Yuvraj hit a blazing century and Karthik smashed a brilliant 67 to resurrect India's innings, which was rocked by short-pitched bowling, led by Jerome Taylor.
Early dismissals of Gautam Gambhir (13) and Rohit Sharma (4) had left India reeling at 32 for two but Yuvraj and Karthik batted with patience to not only avoid further jolts but also lay a solid platform for a good finish.
Gambhir's lean patch continued; he fell to a short-pitched delivery from Taylor. Surprised by the bounce, the left-hander mistimed an attempted pull shot only to find Bravo.
Rohit Sharma (4) became the second victim of the short-pitched stuff as he tried to pull one off Baker but top-edged to Dwayne in the square-leg region.
Yuvraj and Karthik relied more on ones and twos initially and steadied the rocking ship but once they got their eye in, and spinners were launched into the attack, runs started flowing from their blades.
Yuvraj first hit rival skipper Gayle for a huge six over mid-wicket then meted out the same treatment to spinner Suleiman Benn to bring up the 100-run partnership.
Karthik hit six boundaries in his 77-ball effort before being done in by a paddle scoop.
After guiding his side to a safe position, Yuvraj opened his arms to good effect and punished the host bowlers all over the park en route to his 12th ODI century.
He hit both Taylor and Chris Gayle for two sixes each and also added 86 runs for the fourth wicket with Dhoni.
Yuvraj batted fearlessly as he hit Lionel Baker for two fours and a six to reach 98 and then stole a single off Taylor to complete a magnificent century.
The Punjab southpaw was looking unstoppable but Dwayne then dealt the visitors twin blows by dismissing Yuvraj and Jadeja (0) off successive balls in the 39th over.
Yuvraj's brilliant innings ended while trying to work one on the leg side he got a faint edge and stumper Ramdin took a splendid diving catch on his right.
Yusuf (40 off 38) hit the first ball of the last over for a six and Harbhajan (21 off 13) smashed the last one into the crowd to provide a perfect finish to India's innings.
