Friday, June 10, 2011

Raina: India well poised to win series

India's captain Suresh Raina said on Thursday his side was now well-placed to win their one-day international series against West Indies.

India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, after half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel followed up Amit Mishra's career-best bowling to lead them to a seven-wicket victory in the rain-affected second ODI on Wednesday.

Chasing a revised target of 183 in 37 overs due to the rain, after West Indies made 240 for nine from their 50 overs, India reached the target with 20 balls remaining, and Raina earned high praise for setting things up.

"We were expecting to chase something around 260 or 270, but I think the credit has to go to Mishra, he bowled really well," he said.

He added: "At the same time, Munaf gave us breakthroughs at crucial times, and Virat and Parthiv batted very well in the chase. I think it is very important for us to keep things very simple, especially for the next three games."

"We know we had to do well, and when you are playing 50 overs-a-side games, you have to know your strengths, and then you can play your natural game, and enjoy yourself," Raina said.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy was pleased with the "positive intent" his batsmen showed against India's spinners.

He admitted however, they still had not gotten things right just yet, and there was still much work to be done.

"We got ourselves in a good position, but we didn't capitalise in the end, and again were about 30 runs short," he said.

Sammy continued: "We lost wickets at crucial times during the game, so we were on the back foot in the latter part of the overs. The intent from the batsmen was good initially."

The third ODI will be played on Saturday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua.


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