Yuvraj 131 guides India to victory

CRICKET: KINGSTON, June 27 - A merciless 131 in 102 balls from Yuvraj Singh helped India to a 20-run victory over a battling West Indies in Jamaica on Friday in the first in a series of four one-dayers.

Singh's powerful hitting helped India amass 339 for six, the second highest one-day international score at Sabina Park, but the determined hosts ran them close as they were bowled out for 319 in the 49th over.

Chris Gayle (37) and Runako Morton (42) put on 65 inside 10 overs for the opening stand before Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and an aggressive Shivnarine Chanderpaul (63) kept West Indies up with the run-rate.

The home team needed 25 to win off the last three overs with two wickets remaining but Rudra Pratap Singh bowled Sulieman Benn for seven.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who had kept the flame burning with a smart 29 in 26 balls, was then caught by Harbhajan Singh off Ashish Nehra.

Before Friday's game only Pakistan, against Zimbabwe in the 2007 World Cup, had managed to surpass 300 in an ODI at Sabina Park.

West Indies's total was a second-innings record at the ground.

		INDIA 

D. Karthik c Ramdin b Bernard 		 67
G. Gambhir c D.J. Bravo b Taylor 	 13
R. Sharma c D.J. Bravo b Baker 		 04
Yuvraj Singh c Ramdin b DJ Bravo 	131
M.S. Dhoni run out (Ramdin) 		 41
R. Jadeja c Ramdin b DJ Bravo 		 00
Y. Pathan not out 			 40
Harbhajan Singh not out 		 21
Ex: (b-1, lb-8, w-10, nb-3) 		 22
Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 		339

Did not bat: I. Sharma, R.P. Singh, A. Nehra.

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-32, 3-167, 4-253, 5-253, 6-298

Bowling: J. Taylor 10-1-74-1 (nb-2, w-3), L. Baker 9-0-62-1
	(nb-1, w-1), D.J. Bravo 10-0-66-2 (w-3), D. Bernard 8-0-50-1 (w-3), S. 
	Benn 10-0-50-0, C. Gayle 3-0-28-0.

	WEST INDIES

C. Gayle c Harbhajan Singh b Nehra 	 37
R. Morton c Dhoni b Pathan 		 42
R. Sarwan run out 			 45
S. Chanderpaul c Jadeja b Pathan 	 63
D.J. Bravo c R. Sharma b I Sharma 	 08
D.M. Bravo c Singh b Harbhajan Singh 	 19

J.Taylor lbw b Pathan 			 21
D. Ramdin c Harbhajan Singh b Nehra 	 29
D. Bernard c R. Sharma b Nehra 		 19
S. Benn b Singh 			 07
L.Baker not out 			 00
Extras (b-4, lb-4, w-19, nb-2) 		 29
TOTAL (all out; 48.1 overs) 		319

Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-100, 3-151, 4-188, 5-224, 6-241,
		7-250, 8-294 9-318, 10-319 (Ramdin, 48.1 ov).

Bowling: R.P. Singh 7-0-44-1 (nb-1, w-3), A. Nehra 7.1-1-49-3 (nb-1, 
	w-2), I. Sharma 5-0-38-1 (w-1), R. Jadeja 7-1-34-0, Y. Pathan 8-0-56-3
	(w-4), Harbhajan Singh 10-0-56-1 (w-3), Yuvraj Singh 4-0-34-0. 

Reuters