Gayle: 'It Was Sensible Batting'

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper has hailed the efforts of centurion Chris Gayle after he led his side to their second consecutive win against India on Saturday to put them 2-0 up in the seven match one-day series.

"Gayle batted beautifully," Hooper said, after the opener hit 103 to guide West Indies to a seven-wicket win, the tourists reaching 280 for three with four balls to spare in reply to India's 279 for nine in the 47 overs a side game.

Hooper praised his batsmen for piling pressure on India's leading spinners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, who have struggled so far in the series after tormenting West Indies during their 2-0 Test series defeat.

They managed only one for 116 in the first Jamshedpur match on Wednesday which the visitors won by four wickets off the last ball and went wicketless in Nagpur.

"As it has turned out, Harbhajan and Kumble are a bit under pressure," he said.

Hooper said he was confident of a successful chase after inserting the opposition. "My experience of playing in these sort of pitches, you don't know what is exactly a good score. It is hard to pace yourself (batting first)."

"Also given the Indian bowling, we felt it was better to bowl first," said Hooper, on his third full tour of India.

West Indies also completed an impressive chase to snatch a last-ball win in Jamshedpur after India notched up 283 batting first.

Hooper said his side aimed to fully utilise the Indian series as it would be their last serious competition before the World Cup early next year. "We have got to make sure that we leave here with confidence with the spirits high."

Man of the match Gayle complimented the 21-year-old Marlon Samuels, who hit 52 for his second consecutive fifty and shared in a 134-run second wicket stand.

"We batted really sensibly," Gayle said. "Marlon played a brilliant supporting role."

Disappointed Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly admitted his side had been outplayed again and blamed his bowlers. "To win, we need to take wickets which we did not do," he said after only fast bowler Javagal Srinath impressed, conceding only 35 runs for his two wickets in 9.2 overs. "We just did not look a side that is hungry enough in these two games. We need to work on our cricket."

"We did not create much chances to put pressure on them," he said, adding that India will have to pick themselves up and react better in the remainder of the series.