India qualify for ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals
World Cup holders India marched into the Champions Trophy semi-finals with an emphatic win over the West Indies on Tuesday that knocked arch-rivals Pakistan out of the race.
A career-best five-wicket haul by Ravindra Jadeja and a second successive century from Shikhar Dhawan lifted India to an eight-wicket victory at the packed Oval ground on a grim, overcast day in London.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, backed by some 22,000 largely Indian supporters at the stadium, restricted the West Indies to 233-9 and then batted fluently to surpass the target in 39.1 over.
Left-hander Dhawan followed his 114 in the tournament opener against South Africa with an unbeaten 102, reaching his second one-day hundred with a six over third man off Dwayne Bravo.
Dhawan put on 101 for the first wicket with Rohit Sharma (52) and an unbroken 109 for the third with Dinesh Karthik, who made 51 not out and smashed the winning boundary off Keiron Pollard.
India’s second successive win in group B ensured them a place in the last four even before their last league match against winless Pakistan in Birmingham on Saturday.
The West Indies and South Africa, who both beat Pakistan, clash in Cardiff on Friday to determine the second semi-finalist from the group.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja, who finished with 5-36, set up the win with three wickets for five runs to reduce the Windies from 103-1 to 109-4 after India won the toss and elected to field.
Johnson Charles smashed 60 off 55 balls, but it was a brilliant unbeaten 56 from 35 balls by former captain Darren Sammy towards the end that boosted the total.
Sammy plundered five boundaries and four sixes to lift his side from 182-9, making all the 35 runs from the last two overs as last man Kemar Roach watched from the non-striker’s end without scoring.
India won the initial battle by getting rid of danger man Chris Gayle in the fifth over, caught at slip off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, after he had scored 21 of the first 25 runs.
Charles brought up his team’s 100 in the 19th over by lofting Ravichandran Aswin for a six, but fell six balls later when he was leg-before to Jadeja.
Jadeja won a leg-before decision from the television umpire to remove Marlon Samuels and then had Ramnaresh Sarwan caught down the leg-side by Dhoni as the West Indies slipped from 103-1 to 109-4.
Left-hander Darren Bravo scored a watchful 35 off 83 balls when he attempted to loft Ashwin, missed the line and was stumped by Dhoni to make the West Indies 140-5.
Pollard, kept scoreless for the first 10 balls, opened with two consecutive sixes off Ashwin before holing out in the deep off Ishant Sharma after making 22.
India retained the same side that defeated South Africa.
The West Indies were without wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, who was handed a two-match ban for claiming a dropped catch during his team’s victory over Pakistan at the Oval on Friday.
Sammy replaced Ramdin in the side, with Charles picked to keep wickets.