West Indies were the underdogs entering in their match against India yesterday during the World Cup.

As expected, India beat them, but in a fashion that cricket fans would not call convincing.

India vs West Indies was played on 6th March

India versus West Indies was played at the WACA, Perth, where the team from the Caribbean won the toss and elected to bat first.

Even before the match began, the experts predicted the game to be not a high-scoring one, for the WACA pitch is considered as one of the quickest and bounciest tracks in the world.

For the West Indies to score big, Chris Gayle had to be in top form. The southpaw decided to go out all guns blazing, in the course of which he was dropped thrice by the Indian fielders. He was eventually caught in the deep for 21 by Mohit Sharma off a Mohammed Shami bouncer.

Mohammed Shami claimed the wicket of Chris Gayle

What followed this dismissal was a sorry state for the Caribbean team, as their batting line-up fell like a pack of cards. The only player to show some form of resistance was their captain Jason Holder, who scored 57 off 64 balls.

West Indies were all out for 182 runs; coincidentally, the target, 183, was the exact number team India had scored back in 1983 to win the Prudential Cup against the same opponent.

Knowing the nature of the WACA pitch, the Indians would have known that even chasing 183 would appear daunting. And that is what happened!

Jerome Taylor bowled his heart out getting rid of the openers. Unfortunately, his quota of 10 overs was not completed and he ended up with the figures of 8-0-33-2. Andre Russell was the second successful bowler (43-2).

Jerome Taylor and Andre Russell were the most successful West Indian bowlers

Virat Kohli did manage to steady the Indian batting after the fall of the two openers, but he was dismissed for 33 runs by Russell.

‘Captain Cool’ MS Dhoni remained unbeaten on 45 runs at the end of the innings along with Ravichandran Ashwin (16 runs off 32 balls).

Indian managed to beat the West Indies by 4 wickets with 10.5 overs remaining.

India defeated West Indies by 4 wickets

This defeat was special for team India and for MS Dhoni, as they earned a few accolades –

India became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals from Group B

The win over West Indies gave India its eighth consecutive win in the World Cups. In the process, India equalled the win tally it had achieved back in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup

MS Dhoni became the most successful captain away from home (59 wins), surpassing Sourav Ganguly’s record of 58 wins overseas.

India has now won all its matches in this year’s World Cup. During the press conference, Dhoni explained that now all came down to the knockout stage.

“It will be important how well we play on that particular day, especially going into the knockout stages. I feel all the teams are nicely poised. All of them have the right combination and have clicked well. It is a really balanced World Cup. We just need to keep doing what we are doing right, and take it one game at a time.”

The post India Beats West Indies; Dhoni Becomes The Most Successful Indian ODI Captain Overseas appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

The ‘minnows’ of the cricketing world are no longer predictable. You cannot anticipate when they would turn the tables on the best team, in the process handing them a humiliating defeat.

Biggest cricket world cup upsets

Such accomplishments actually make you think whether attaching the tag minnows to them is right. Where the giants of the cricketing world strive towards adding another trophy to their kitty, the so-called minnows carry the same objective, along with crushing these giants.

The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup will be no different, as it will see teams like Scotland, UAE, Ireland and Afghanistan participating in the event.

That being said, with a pinch of luck, you can expect disappointments since Ireland and Afghanistan are forces to be reckoned with. Here we look at past defeats that the cricketing giants have suffered at the hands of minnow teams –

Bangladesh vs. India, Group Match (2007)

Bangladesh beat India by 5 wickets

The Indian team was led by Rahul Dravid and it suffered a fate that was worse than ever in its modern day cricketing history. In the group match, it competed against Bangladesh and was expected to emerge triumphant. What transpired was awful. The Indians, batting first, collapsed like a pack of cards setting their rivals a target of only 192 runs. The Bangladeshi team reached the target in the 49^th over. This defeat in the opening match proved costly for India, as it lost against Sri Lanka in the third group match and was knocked out of the tournament.

Kenya vs. West Indies, Group Match (1996)

Kenya beat West Indies by 73 runs

This match was what one would call a royal thrashing. Kenya was making its World Cup debut and no one would have expected them to defeat the two-time world champions West Indies. However, West Indies were already struggling even before meeting Kenya and this match could have brought them back. But things did not go as planned. West Indies, winning the toss, decided to field first and the bowlers did a remarkable job by restricting the minnows at 166. West Indies, on the other hand, got all-out on the score of 93 runs suffering a 73 runs margin defeat.

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka, Group Match (2003)

Kenya beat Sri Lanka by 44 runs

By this time, Sri Lanka had proven to the world that it was no longer a minnow by winning the 1996 World Cup. Kenya, however, had the tag attached to them as ever. Kenya was playing at home and batting first had scored 210 runs which was achievable for Sri Lanka. The hosts somehow managed to pull off another miracle as their bowlers managed to bundle out the Sri Lankans for a meagre 157 runs. Collins Obuya was the hero of the match, who ended with bowling figures of 5/24.

Ireland vs. England, Group Match (2011)

Ireland beat England by 3 wickets

The English have always had troubles while facing minnows and the 2011 World Cup wasn’t different for them either. England and Ireland are considered cricket’s oldest rivals and Ireland looked out of the tournament when England posted a daunting total of 327 runs after batting first. While chasing the target, Ireland stumbled initially and was stranded at 106-4 when all-rounder Kevin O’Brien came to their aid. He played a stunning knock of 113 runs off just 63 balls. Ireland chased the score with five balls remaining.

India vs. West Indies, Final (1983)

India beat West Indies by 43 runs

By 1983, West Indies were the two-time World Cup champions and had made it to their third consecutive final. Though India had defeated the World champions in the Group Match, they were still the underdogs going into the final.

Batting first, India scored 183 runs in the allotted 60 overs. With a batting line up like that of the West Indies, the target looked easily achievable.

Kapil Dev, the captain of the Indian team then, along with his cavalry produced one of the major upsets in cricketing history, defeating West Indies by 43 runs, in the process winning the World Cup.

The post 5 Biggest Upsets In Cricket World Cup History appeared first on Youngisthan.in.