CHENNAI-Yuvraj Singh hit a maiden World Cup century and then grabbed 2-18 to help India to an 80-run win over West Indies in the last group match of the World Cup yesterday.India secured second place in Group B and a quarterfinal against defending champion Australia after rattling out eight batsmen for 34 runs as West Indies was dismissed for 188, chasing 269 to win.West Indies must rally quickly to have any chance of beating Group A winner Pakistan in the first of the quarterfinals at Dhaka on Wednesday. India plays Australia the following day at Ahmedabad.Back at his favoured No. 4 position, Yuvraj struck 10 fours and two sixes and shared a 122-run stand with Virat Kohli (59). The left-handed Yuvraj was dropped twice by West Indies captain Darren Sammy early on and cashed in with 113 from 123 balls-his first one-day century since June 2009.
"I was anxious," said Yuvraj, who also struggled with stomach cramps during his innings. "I wanted to get to 100 and this was the opportunity. I just wanted to get to the 100 because it's been a while."Ravi Rampaul returned a career-best 5-51 for West Indies, including the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in the first over of the match. Rampaul had been called into the team as a late replacement for Kemar Roach but his impressive effort couldn't stop India reaching a challenging 268.Opener Smith led the West Indies' reply and combined for a 57-run stand with Darren Bravo and 63 with Ramnaresh Sarwan (39) but the match-deciding slide started when he was bowled by Zaheer Khan, who finished with figures of 3-26.
The back-to-back partnerships had boosted West Indies' hopes of a first win over a major team for nearly two years, but a patient India suddenly struck back to rush through the middle and lower order.Bravo (22) had thrown away a promising stand with a careless loft to Harbhajan Singh at long-on off Suresh Raina, but Smith and Sarwan pushed the West Indies on.Khan ended the threat in the first over of his second spell, bowling Smith for a crucial strike. Kieron Pollard hammered a ball straight to Yusuf Pathan on the boundary in the 32nd over, just three runs after Smith had fallen.
And Yuvraj was the fourth Indian spinner to grab a wicket when Devon Thomas was stumped for nine and West Indies had suddenly hit serious trouble at 160-5.Sammy was run out and the dangerous Andre Russell became Yuvraj's second victim, leaving West Indies' tail exposed as the Caribbean team again folded at Chennai from a promising position."The good thing is this is not the knockout stage," West Indies skipper Sammy said following a similar collapse from his team in the loss to England at the same ground three days earlier."If that happens (in the knockouts) we're going home. We let it slip again and we must correct it and correct it quickly."?(AP)
SCORECARD
India vs West Indies
India Inns
G Gambhir c Russell b Rampaul 22
S Tendulkar c Thomas b Rampaul 2
Virat Kohli b Rampaul 59
Yuvraj Singh c & b Pollard 113
M S Dhoni st Thomas b Bishoo 22
Suresh Raina c Rampaul b Sammy 4
Yusuf Pathan b Rampaul 11
Harbhajan c Pollard b Russell 3
Ravichandran Ashwin not out 10
Zaheer Khan b Rampaul 5
Munaf Patel b Russell 1
Extras: (5b, 2lb, 9w) 16
TOTAL: (49.1 overs) 268
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-51, 3-173, 4-218, 5-232, 6-240, 7-251, 8-259, 9-267, 10-268.
Bowling: Rampaul 10-0-51-5 (5w), Benn 4-0-32-0, Russell 9.1-1-46-2 (2w), Sammy 6-0-35-1 (1w), Bishoo 10-0-48-1, Pollard 10-0-49-1 (1w).
West Indies Inns
Devon Smith b Khan 81
Kirk Edwards lbw b Ashwin 17
Darren Bravo c Harbhajan b Raina 22
Ramnaresh Sarwan c Ashwin b Khan 39
Kieron Pollard c Pathan b Harbhajan 1
Devon Thomas st Dhoni b Yuvraj 2
Darren Sammy run out 2
Andre Russell c Pathan b Yuvraj 0
Sulieman Benn c Patel b Khan 3
Devendra Bishoo not out 6
Ravi Rampaul b Ashwin 1
Extras: (8lb, 6w) 14
TOTAL: (43 overs) 188
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-91, 3-154, 4-157, 5-160, 6-162, 7-165, 8-179, 9-182, 10-188.
Bowling: Ashwin 10-0-41-2 (1w), Khan 6-0-26-3 (2w), Harbhajan 9-1-35-1 (1w), Y Pathan 7-0-28-0, Raina 2-0-12-1, Yuvraj 4-0-18-2, Patel 5-0-20-0 (1w).
Result: India won by 80 runs.
Toss: India.
Umpires: Steve Davis, (Australia) and Simon Taufel, (Australia).
TV umpire: Bruce Oxenford, (Australia). Match referee: Roshan Mahanama, (SL)