Tendulkar's 29th century hands India a comfortable victory

This last match of the first round of the triangular tournament was meaningless as far as the competition was concerned, as both teams had already qualified at the expense of Zimbabwe. India gave themselves a boost in confidence, though, with a convincing six-wicket victory over West Indies, with a century from Sachin Tendulkar as the highlight.

Play began on a clear winter's day, with the flattest of pitches, but India still decided to bowl on winning the toss. Both teams played one or two reserve players, but West Indies are concerned about Cameron Cuffy, the best bowler of the tournament to date, who had a foot injury and was likely to miss the rest of the tour.

So hard was the ground that Ashish Nehra fell heavily in his delivery stride in the first over, but fortunately was able to continue. India bowled well but did not receive the same help from the conditions as usual, and Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga were able to make a sound start without undue worry. Both played some fine drives off the odd poor delivery, with Gayle looking particularly impressive. He flattered only to deceive, though, falling for 23 as soon as Harbhajan Singh came on, chipping a low catch to extra cover. However, the opening stand of 47 at three an over was more than useful.

Ganga reached a creditable fifty with a perfectly played sweep to the boundary as West Indies began to accelerate. He was fortunate immediately afterwards, though, when umpire Graeme Evans did not consult the third umpire about a very close run-out attempt that the television camera revealed to be out. In the next over, though, he again tried a risky single, only to be sent back rather late, and this time was several metres out of his crease when Sameer Dighe's throw hit the stumps.

Wavell Hinds was next to his fifty, which came off 57 balls, tribute to his ability to keep the score moving almost constantly, mainly with back-foot drives and the occasional pull. He alone of the top batsmen seemed able consistently to evade the fielders, and a score of 157 for two after 40 overs was perhaps not enough on such a flat pitch.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, perhaps frustrated in his efforts to keep the score moving, chipped a catch to midwicket off Debashish Mohanty to depart for 16. Then Hinds skied an attempted pull to be caught and bowled for 66 by Harvinder Singh, making West Indies 170 for four.

Carl Hooper and Ridley Jacobs had to reorganize the innings, which they did quite successfully until Hooper (24) holed out at long-on off Harvinder. Jacobs, with 27 not out, as usual did all that was asked of him, while Ramnaresh Sarwan was unbeaten with 13, but 229 for five was probably rather less than West Indies would have liked in good batting conditions.

Sachin Tendulkar was soon under way, with a couple of boundary pulls off short balls from Reon King, followed by a leg glance for four, all in the opening over, and West Indies were missing Cuffy already. Sourav Ganguly joined the party with three boundaries in an over when he first faced King, who retired to lick his wounds after his first spell of three overs conceded 29 runs. His replacement Colin Stuart did no better, pitching short and wide to allow Ganguly two more fours from cuts; he bowled just two overs for 19.

The fifty came up in the eighth over as Tendulkar hooked a short ball from Mervyn Dillon for six, and he went on to a personal fifty off 49 balls, soon followed by Ganguly off 80. The West Indian bowlers failed to keep a consistent length and the batsmen were never under real pressure. Finally Dillon, the best of the bowlers with only 22 runs conceded off his ten overs, deceived Ganguly (62) with a slower ball that he drove straight to mid-off. The opening pair had put on 133.

Virender Shewag was given an opportunity at number three, but was stumped off Hooper for 4; however, the camera showed the ball was in the left hand while the bails were removed with the right. Hemang Badani played across the line to be bowled through the gate by Hooper for four, and three wickets had fallen for 19 runs.

Rahul Dravid brought stability to the other end while Tendulkar reached his 29th one-day century, and his second in Zimbabwe. Dravid then fell for 15, yorked by Chris Gayle, but Reetinder Sodhi (16 not out) stayed to finish the match in the 49th over with Tendulkar, who finished with 122.