India made relatively light work of their Champions Trophy match against the West Indies at the Oval on Tuesday, winning by eight wickets thanks to an unbeaten century from rising star Shikhar Dhawan.
The Windies made 233 for nine in their 50 overs, thanks to a smashing 56 not out by former skipper Darren Sammy at the death, while Ravi Jadeja took five wickets. India then made a clinical effort in the chase, reaching the runs required in the 40th over.
The result means Pakistan are out of the tournament, while South Africa must beat the West Indies in their upcoming match to join India in the semi-finals from group B.
India won the toss and chose to bowl first, assuming that the overcast conditions would be good for bowling, and it was so. Danger man Chris Gayle threatened initially, but was out for 21 to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Johnson Charles and Darren Bravo stabilised the knock, pushing the score to 103 in the 20th over, before Charles was dismissed for 60 off 55 balls. He was trapped LBW and was the first of five wickets for Jadeja.
Marlon Samuels and Ramnaresh Sarwan were soon back in the hut, both falling for just a single, both to Jadeja, leaving Darren Bravo and his brother Dwayne to add a few desperate runs. Jadeja and Ishant Sharma were particularly restrictive in the middle overs.
Once the Bravo brothers departed, Darren for 35 and Dwayne for 25, Kieron Pollard and Sammy had to push the scoring to make sure they reached the 200 mark. Pollard fell to Ishant for 22 though, leaving Sammy to stick it to the selectors.
The India batsmen were quick to show their opposition how to bat on this wicket, and were soon going at a cracking rate. Openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma put on 101 together in 15 overs, with Rohit scoring another fifty before falling to Sunil Narine.
Dhawan then teamed up with Virat Kohli for the next four and a half overs, before the latter was out for 22 off 18 balls. He was bowled by Narine, who was the only bowler to trouble the Indians.
There was a short rain delay with 30 runs to go, but Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik wrapped up the game in the 40th over, with Dhawan scoring his second ton in as many games off 102 balls (with a huge six over point), while Karthik ended on 51 not out.
