By Michael Pavitt

Mahendra Singh Dhoni guided India to victory in Perth ©Getty ImagesIndia held off a fightback from the West Indies' bowlers in Perth to record their fourth win of the Cricket World Cup and seal a place in the quarter-finals.


The match defied the trend of this tournament so far, which has seen batsmen on top throughout the competition, as wickets fell rapidly and in the case of the West Indies cheaply, particularly during the early stages of their innings.

After choosing to bat first the West Indies found themselves on the back foot at 34-4, with less than 10 of the 50 overs bowled, as the crowd first saw Dwayne Smith caught for just six, before a misunderstanding between Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, saw the latter run out for two.

Gayle soon joined his teammate back in the pavilion after an ill-advised shot saw him caught off Mohammed Shami's bowling and his replacement Denesh Ramdin was out for a golden duck to put India in an ideal position to continue their winning streak.

But, despite their top order failing the West Indies, began to mount a recovery to limit the damage caused, with captain Jason Holder and Darren Sammy top scoring with 57 and 21 respectively.

The West Indian innings came to an end following the dismissal of tailender Holder, who had produced a dogged resistance, as he was caught off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling, to leave them 182 all out.

The West Indies were made to regret a poor batting performance ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe West Indies were made to regret a poor batting performance ©AFP/Getty Images



Their respectable tally seemed unlikely to trouble India given their 100 per cent start to the competition, but Jerome Taylor struck twice in quick succession removing Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma to leave India 20-2.

The match appeared to be back in the balance again when India were reduced to 107-5, 76 runs away from victory, on a wicket clearly causing problems for the batsman.

However, the West Indies were unable to maintain the pressure they had built on the Indians, as Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped guide India to the total reaching 45 not out, securing a four-wicket win.

India's victory sees them top the Pool B standings after four matches and look likely to stay there with their remaining Pool fixtures against Ireland on Tuesday (March 10) and Zimbabwe on March 14.

The West Indies hopes of a quarter final place remain in the balance having played five matches, recording two wins and three loses.

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