India vs West Indies

India vs West Indies 19th T20 Match, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown

India vs West Indies 19th T20 Match, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown On May 9, 2010 from 13:30 GMT | 19:00 IST Onwards

India, battling for survival, need to play out of their skins when they meet hosts West Indies in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20 here on Sunday. After their shattering 49-run defeat against Australia on Saturday, India need to bounce back with an emphatic victory against the home team to keep themselves in the hunt for a semi-final berth.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team was made to look like a bunch of novices by Australia on Friday. The defeat of margin was reduced because of Rohit Sharma’s exemplary 79 runs in India’s total of 135. Sharma’s knock was the only positive India can draw from the match. The rest of the batsmen failed to cope up with the pace and bounce extracted by the Australian attack on a lively Kensington Oval wicket.

Dhoni admitted his batsmen need to be more cautious in their approach while tackling the quicks.”If somebody bowls 150 kph (93 mph) short stuff, then you have to be really good at pulling which isn’t our natural strength. Most players from India are very good at cutting the ball, but only a few are good pullers against the new ball.”

The West Indies would be looking to follow the Australian ploy of exploiting the weakness of the Indian batsmen and fast bowlers Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor and Dwayne Bravo in their team will be ready with the shorter stuff and toe-crushers for the Sunday’s clash.

“We can use the short ball but at the same we have to be careful because it (the Kensington Oval) is a small ground and they have quality batsmen who can make adjustments. But it’s certainly something we will put into our plans,” said Gayle. The West Indies, on the other hand, need to field better as they missed six chances against Sri Lanka who piled 195 runs on Friday.