Two superbly well crafted innings - 111 not out by middle-order batsmen Mohammad Kaif, his maiden ODI century and an equally effective 71 by wicket-keeper/batsman Rahul Dravid took India to 288 for 7 - a position from where, they can call the shots in their first match of the ICC Champions Trophy at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday..

Kaif, with a string of fine performances who has cemented his place in the Indian limited-overs side, along with the ever reliable Rahul Dravid added 117 for the fifth wicket before Dravid was run-out going for another quick single in the 38th over.

Anil Kumble, sent in to prevent further quick wickets going down played a scratchy innings of 18 not-out in as many as twice the number of runs off his bat. But Kaif more than made up for his partner with his dazzling strokeplay. Kaif dominated the unbroken 84-run stand for the seventh wicket contributing 59. His undefeated 112-ball knock was studded with 8 fours and a pulled six off left-arm spinner Grant Flower.

Earlier, the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly rightly opted to bat first after the spin of the coin. But things did not go to plan as the cream of the Indian batting line-up were quickly cooling their heels in the pavilion even before the initial 15 overs were bowled.

Douglas Hondo (4 for 62), nothing more than a medium-pacer, but bowling just on and around the line of the off-stump, sent shivers down the spines of the Indian supporters with a maiden over in which he claimed the wicket of Ganguly (13) and Dinesh Mongia for a four-ball duck. He did further heavy damage by picking up master batsman Sachin Tendulkar (7), offering Alistair Campbell his third catch of the innings.

Virender Sehwag who opened the batting along with Ganguly sparkled with a quick-fire 48 off just 36 balls including eight hits to the fence. But fell victim to first-change bowler Sean Ervine (1for 60) who replaced an unusually expensive Heath Streak.

Next man Yuvraj Singh’s stay at the crease just lasted seven balls before Ervine held a brilliant one-handed catch in the slips to get rid of the young Sikh which left the Indians tottering at 87 for 5 before Dravid and Kaif performed their rescue act.

Dillon turns villain as South Africa shut out the Windies with last-ball victory Satish Viswanathan

If the opening game of the Champions Trophy was a tame one-sided affair, day two brought the tournament alive. It couldn’t have got closer actually, South Africa pulling off a last ball win over the West Indies in a match of swinging fortunes.

The result was almost a travesty of justice. Both teams had fought so hard that a tie would probably been the fair outcome. But then in sport there has to be a winner and today it was South Africa’s turn. Chasing 239 for a win in 49 overs after being docked one over for a slow over rate, the South Africans seemed to have made a mess of it losing wickets in a heap.

Left with 19 to get in the last two overs, a great over from Pedro Collins, which cost just six runs, meant that 13 were needed off the last over. Mervyn Dillon had the honour of bowling that over but he blew it with a first ball full toss which Shuan Pollock smashed for six over long on. A brace off the next ball was followed by Pollock’s dismissal, which again allowed the Windies in. And when Lance Klusener, struggling to put bat to ball, too fell two balls later, it was left to Nicky Boje and Alan Dawson to make three off the last delivery. Here Dillon messed up again, sending down a wide which was converted to two with a quickly run bye.

The match now tied and the field brought up, Dawson easily put the final ball away to the third man fence to seal the win and keep South Africa in the hunt for a semifinal place. He also probably saved Pollock’s job, as it was the South African captain who had opted to chase rather set a target.

It needn’t have come to this. The South Africans did lose early wickets but a superb fourth wicket stand between Boeta Dippenaar and Jonty Rhodes, both of whom slammed half-centuries, brought them back on course. But having done all the hard work both fell to West Indian skipper Carl Hooper in the space of three balls to set up the exciting finish.

In the morning, the West Indies, who must have been surprised when asked to bat first, started slowly but steadily with openers Shivnarine Chanderpaul (45) and Chris Gayle (49) not prepared to risk too much against the likes of Pollock, Dawson and Allan Donald, who incidentally bagged his 250th wicket on the day. The end overs too were dealt with well, Ridley Jacobs’ cameo 25 (21b) and Ramnaresh Sarwan’s useful 36 providing the thrust.

However, all that came to a naught in the end. With Kenya being the third team in their group, and South Africa unlikely to lose to them, it is all but curtains for the West Indies.

Statistical Highlights:
---By Daniel Puran Singh

• This was the 26th meeting between the two sides in ODIs.
• West Indian pacer Vasbert Drakes made an appearance in this match after playing his previous ODI in March 1995 against the visiting Aussies. Thus missing a 153 matches in the intervening period.
• Alan Dawson returned to the South African side after missing 42 ODIs, having played his previous match in January 2001.
• Drakes with figures of 1-36 equaled his previous best bowling analysis (7-0-36-1) against Australia in 1995. However on this occasion he has bowled eight overs.
• The 49 made by Chris Gayle in this match was his fourth score between 40-49.
• Quickie Alan Donald, with the scalp of Wavell Hinds reached the milestone of 250 ODI wickets.. He becomes the ninth bowler to achieve this distinction and first South African to do so.
• The 61 by Rhodes was his 31st half-century in ODIs While Boeta Dippenaar (53) notched up his 12th.
• The stand of 117 between Boeta Dippenaar and Jonty Rhodes was the best ever for the fourth-wicket against West Indies.
• Caribbean fast bowler Mervyn Dillon’s 4-60, was his third four-wicket bag in ODIs.
• South Africa by scoring the winning runs of the last ball of the match recorded the 20th such instance in ODIs. It was also the fourth occasion for the African nation.
• This is also the first instance of a team recording a last-ball win on Sri Lankan soil.
• This victory was the 18th versus West Indies and the 162nd overall for South Africa.
• Jonty Rhodes’ Man-of-the-Match award was the 14th of his ODI career and the third against the Caribbeans.