Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

The West Indies will have to come out tomorrow with guns blazing if they are to avoid going down 2-0 in their four-match 2009 Digicel one-day international series against India after falling short by 20 runs in the first match at Sabina Park yesterday.

India, buoyed by an explosive 131 from middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh, first posted a huge 339-6 off their allotted 50 overs, and despite a gallant effort, the West Indies were dismissed for 319 off 48.1 overs.

Tomorrow's contest, which is also slated for Sabina Park, is scheduled to begin at 9:30a.m. Captain Chris Gayle was satisfied with the West Indies' effort.

close contest

"It was a very close contest, well tried to the guys," said Gayle said after the defeat. The West Indies produced a creditable all-round batting display but were always on a uphill climb hunting a Sabina Park ODI run-chase record.

"Chasing such a huge total we were always up against it, but thanks to the team we were able to get close. We will just have to use this as a motivation going forward into Sunday's match where we will be looking to square the series," Gayle added.

The West Indies, who were hoping to continue where they left off from the recently concluded ICC World Twenty20 Championship in England, in which they made it to the semi-finals, were let down by a relatively poor bowling effort which was punished by the dashing Singh.

Batting at number four spot in the absence of batting great Sachin Tendulkar, Singh, after a relatively slow start, proceeded to pulverise the lacklustre West Indies bowling attack led by Jerome Taylor and Dwayne Bravo.

Taylor, after going for 26 in his first spell of five overs, ended with 1-74 off his allotted 10 overs. His new-ball partner Lionel Baker took 1-62, recalled all-rounder David Bernard 1-50 and spinners Sulieman Benn and Gayle 0-50 and 0-28, respectively. Bravo, 2-66, was the pick of the bowlers

Singh registered his 12th ODI century with relative ease, stroking 10 fours and seven massive sixes off a mere 102 deliveries. He got good support from opener Dinesh Karthik, 67, and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 41.

third-wicket stand

He first shared in a 135-run third-wicket stand off 129 balls with Karthik, then when the opener fell to Bernard he was ably assisted by captain Dhoni in putting on 86 (57 balls) for the fourth wicket.

"With a flat track and small boundaries and a batsman like Singh it called for a lot from our bowlers and, unfortunately, they did not deliver. Come Sunday we hope to change that," said Gayle.

In the run chase, Gayle (37 off 33) and the recalled Runako Morton (42 off 51) put on a 65-run opening stand to give the home team a good start.

However, despite solid middle-order knocks of 45 and 63 from Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, David Bernard Jr (19), Jerome Taylor (21) and last-man-out Denesh Ramdin (29), the asking rate was too much.

Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra and off-spinner Yusuf Pathan unsettled the middle order to emerge India's best bowlers with 4-49 and 3-54, respectively.

"It was a fantastic effort by Singh, he showed how good he really is. We knew that with such a target we were in with a very good chance of winning and despite a late rally by the Windies we were able to pull it off," said Dhoni.

The West Indies left out batsman Narsingh Deonarine and fast bowler Ravi Rampaul from their 13-man squad.

India

D. Karthik c Ramdin b Bernard 67
G. Gambhir c DwBravo b Taylor 13
R. Sharma c DwBravo b Baker 4
Y. Singh c Ramdin b DwBravo 131
M.S. Dhoni run out (Ramdin) 41
R. Jadeja c Ramdin b DwBravo 0
Y. Pathan not out 40
H. Singh not out 21
Extras: (1b, 8lb, 10w, 3nb) 22
TOTAL: (for 6 wickets) 339
Overs: 50.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 3-32, 3-167, 4-253, 5-253, 6-298.
Did not bat: R.P. Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra.
Bowling: Jerome Taylor 10-1-74-1 (2nb, 3w), Lionel Baker 9-0-62-1 (1nb, 1w), Dwayne Bravo 10-0-66-2 (3w), David Bernard 8-0-50-1 (3w), Sulieman Benn 10-0-50-0, Chris Gayle 3-0-28-0.

West Indies

C. Gayle c Harbhajan b Nehra 37
R. Morton c Dhoni b Pathan 42
R. Sarwan run out (RSingh/Dhoni) 45
S. Chanderpaul c Jadeja b Pathan 63
D. Bravo c RSharma b ISharma 8
D. Bravo c RSingh b Harbhajan 19
J. Taylor lbw b Pathan 21
D. Ramdin c Harbhajan b Nehra 29
D. Bernard c RSharma b Nehra 19
S. Benn b RSingh 7
L. Baker not out 0
Extras: (4b, 4lb, 19w, 2nb) 29
TOTAL: (all out) 319
Overs: 48.1.
Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-100, 3-151, 4-188, 5-224, 6-241, 7-250, 8-294, 9-318, 10-319.
Bowling: RP Singh 7-0-44-1 (1nb, 3w), Ashish Nehra 7.1-1-49-3 (1nb, 2w), Ishant Sharma 5-0-38-1 (1w), Ravindra Jadeja 7-1-34-0, Yusuf Pathan 8-0-56-3 (8w), Harbhajan Singh 10-0-56-1 (5w), Yuvraj Singh 4-0-34-0.
Result: India won by 20 runs (lead four-match series 1-0).
Toss: India.
Umpires: Nigel Llong, England, and Norman Malcolm, Jamaica.
Third umpire: Clancy Mack, Antigua. Match referee: Chris Broad, England.