Clinical India cruise to another big win

Fri, Jun 30, '17

It was a pitch that was far from perfect for the batsmen. India had been playing on pristine batting tracks in England before they ended up in the Caribbean. In Antigua, they were facing a pitch that left their batsmen with all to do, and their experience shone through.

Faced with a rare top-order failure, MS Dhoni split his knock into two contrasting halves - cautious at the start and with a trademark finish at the end, while Ajinkya Rahane dropped anchor with another fifty-plus score to give India a solid total to defend. In reply to India's 251 for 4, West Indies' batting crumbled as they succumbed to a 93-run loss. India's bowlers revelled on a pitch, that although much more batting friendly than in the first essay, still had something in it for the bowlers. The win meant that India had taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.