Munaf, Pathan rip apart West Indies to bundle them out for 85

Trelawny, Jamaica, Mar 9 (UNI) Munaf Patel (four for 10) and Irfan Pathan (three for 25) ripped through the heart of West Indies batting line up as India bundled out the hosts for a paltry 85 runs in 25.5 overs in their final warm-up match here today.

Munaf and Pathan were ably supported by two other pacers Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, along with Anil Kumble, who all chipped in with a wicket each.

Munaf led the charge with the wickets of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Dinesh Ramdin and Dwayne Smith and after his sixth over, he had given away a measly eight runs for all the havoc he had caused.

The Men in Blue could not have scripted the final practice game any better. It was also vindication of the faith captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell had reposed on the composition of India's attack for this tournament.

The nine wickets tumbled even without Anil Kumble or Harbhajan Singh getting to wrap their fingers around the white ball with Agarkar and Zaheer doing the early damage and Pathan and Munaf taking up the wicket-taking mantle thereafter. And all this after Brian Lara opted to take first strike when Dravid called the coin wrongly.

There were no devils in the pitch, and the sequence of falling wickets made for a baffling reading. One down for 14 (Chanderpaul), 2/14 (Gayle), 3/53 (Lara), 4/53 (Sarwan), 5/57 (Bravo), 6/61 (Pollard), 7/62 (Samuels), 8/62 (Ramdin) and 9/80 (Smith) happened even as the first lot of latecomers were straggling into the picturesque stadium that sits yards away from the gleaming aquamarine of the Caribbean Sea.

What would have pleased his captain apart from Munaf's burst was the way Pathan picked up his second and third wickets. Pathan's first casualty was Lara, fooled into trying to check his shot and lobbing a return catch.

Nineteen year old Keiron Pollard then played with static feet to return to pavilion. Next to be dismissed was Marlon Samuels trapped leg before with a delivery that jags back at the batsman.

It was left for all-rounder Smith and Lendl Simmons to at least make a push towards the hundred mark for a side many here believe is capable of regaining World Cup glory for the Caribbean. Even that was torpedoed by Munaf's fourth wicket and then Kumble added slat to the hosts'wound by claiming the last wicket to end the innings, leaving 24.1 overs unplayed.

UNI