Dhoni's men pay the price for not showing respect

The India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni accuses his players of underestimating the West Indies bowlers after the tourists were routed by eight wickets

KINGSTON // The India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni accused his players of underestimating the West Indies bowlers after the tourists were routed by eight wickets in Sunday's second one-day international. The hosts levelled the series at 1-1 - thanks largely to seamers Ravi Rampaul (4-37), Jerome Taylor (3-35) and Dwayne Bravo (3-26) who skittled out India for 188.

Runako Morton's unbeaten 85 anchored the West Indies' chase and they got home within 35 overs. "We should have shown a bit more respect towards the bowlers. The wicket was a bit different, it was swinging around a bit, not like the previous wicket," said Dhoni, who hit a gutsy 95 from 130 balls on a Sabina Park track on which both teams exceeded 300 runs two days ago. "We didn't assess the wicket well, we just went on with our strokes and that really caused our downfall," he added. "Once you lose so many wickets early on you are only catching up."

Dhoni's counterpart Chris Gayle was typically aggressive in his 46-ball 64. "It was a good effort from the guys - Jerome Taylor and Ravi Rampaul set up the game for us. I thought they utilised the conditions very well," Gayle said. "Hopefully we can go from strength to strength." Man-of-the-match Rampaul's figures were vindication for him and the selectors following his recall to the side for the second game.

"I've been working hard to get back in the team," Rampaul said. "I got a bit of swing and took a couple of wickets and it was a good return." After Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat, the tourists had a nightmare start, losing three wickets for seven runs in the first two overs. Dinesh Karthik was first to go when he edged Taylor's late outswinger behind, while Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma both departed for two-ball ducks when they were caught off Rampaul.

Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni set about salvaging the innings and the former had blasted 35 from 33 balls when he became the fourth man out with the score on 54. Yuvraj's departure sent the innings into freefall. Yusuf Pathan gloved a short-pitched delivery to second slip. The newcomer Ravindra Jadeja lacked footwork while Harbhajan Singh attempted an airy drive off Bravo. The latter two rounded off wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin's part in five dismissal behind the stumps.

Once Praveen Kumar followed Harbhajan in the 22nd over as his attempted cut off Rampaul found Gayle in the slips, India were looking down the barrel at 82 for eight. However, Dhoni dug in with RP Singh (23) to put up a 101-run stand which was still too little and too late. * PA