Needing 11 runs off the last over after the target was revised to 159 from 22 overs, Dhoni (46 not out) sent Jerome Taylor’s second delivery for a six over mid-wicket as India won with a ball to spare. The one-dayer witnessed as many as five stoppages due to rain during the West Indies innings — including a two-hour-and-five-minutes’ delay at the start of the match. The interruptions forced the overs to be brought down to 27 per side.

The West Indies, put into bat after Dhoni won the toss, rode on Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 62 to post a competitive 185 for seven and India were set a revised target of 195 following the D/L method.

The visitors needed a strong start and Dinesh Karthik (47 off 43 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (44 off 38) gave them just that. The duo put on 84 runs before a direct throw from Ravi Rampaul ended Karthik’s innings. Gambhir and Dhoni took the score to 95 for one off 13.3 overs when rain intervened for the fifth time and following a 22-minute delay, the target was revised to 159 in 22 overs.

Needing another 64 runs from 51 deliveries, India lost Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh (2) in quick succession. With 11 runs required off the last seven deliveries, Rohit Sharma also departed leaving Dhoni at the crease. The skipper’s 34-ball unbeaten knock included a couple of boundaries besides the six in the last over.

India may have pulled off the all-important win in the third ODI against West Indies, but skipper MS Dhoni says the team were on the backfoot for most part of the match because of rain interruptions.

“Everytime we thought we were in the game the Duckworth-Lewis method got us onto the backfoot. We couldn’t use our second powerplay due to that,” said Dhoni.

Coach Gary Kirsten said he drew comfort from Dhoni’s presence at the crease. “Someone like MS Dhoni can hit the ball out of the ground any time so it was comforting knowing that we had him at the crease controlling the game,” said Kirsten.

“He’s had a magnificent series and he’s played some really good one-day cricket for us. When it comes down to the wire it can go either way, the most important thing is that you have game-breakers and match-winners in at that situation,” said Kirsten.

He also felt that the bowlers did a good job. “Getting Gayle out was the target and the bowlers did just that. Because there’s no way you can stop him other than getting him out,” said the skipper.

Kirsten admitted chasing a rain-truncated match also helped India’s cause. “It definitely helps a team batting second in this type of set up. It did suit us to be batting second because you can dictate the game a little better when the overs are shortening in terms of what you need,” he said.

The electronic scoreboard on the ground had stopped functioning towards the end of the match but Kirsten said he ensured that the batsmen in the middle were well aware of the target. “It was mind-blowing to be honest, but the umpires were giving them notice every over so they knew what was going on,” he said.

Meanwhile, losing skipper Chris Gayle felt a bit more aggressiveness on the part of his bowlers could have helped the team win the match.

“We felt we had our chance after scoring 185. But we needed to be a bit more attacking at the start of the Indian innings,” said Gayle. “Weather made it difficult, but we can’t do anything about it,” Gayle added

India eye second series win

India will be aiming to notch up their second ODI series triumph in the Caribbean when they take on the West Indies in the fourth and final one-dayer Sunday.

The last time India won an ODI series in West Indies was 2002 when Sourav Ganguly led them to a 2-1 triumph in a five-match series. For the Indians, a win will help bury the demons of their World Twenty20.

Brief scores: West Indies 185/7 in 27 overs (R Sarwan 62; Nehra 3/21, Harbhajan 2/35) vs India 159/4 in 21.5 overs (D Karthik 47, G Gambhir 44, M S Dhoni 46 not out; Bravo 1/27, Bernard 1/21, Benn 1/31).