India are the first side through to the World Cup quarter finals. Their unbeaten World Cup run now stretches to eight matches, their equal longest in their history.
The only worry for a suddenly miraculously inform side ahead of the West Indies match was that they happened been tested enough.
Thankfully, for both the Indian side and the viewers, the match was a competitive one. Not that it looked like it would be that way after the first 25 overs.
As West Indies slumped to 85/7 in the face of disciplined Indian bowling, it looked like the match would be over before the interval.
While India’s seam bowling was reasonable, West Indies batting was a complete omnishambles. Each player was playing to their own game plan and without any care or attention for the team situation.
If the side were playing well and players were in form, this wouldn’t be a problem. But with the way the West Indies have been playing of late, the side at least need to form a cohesive game-plan and stick to it.
Fortunately, for both sides in truth, Jason Holder made a good fifty to take the game into the realms of competitiveness. The West Indies total of 182 was well short of decent, but at least gave India something approaching a challenge on a lively and quick pitch.
After the West Indian bowlers had gotten into their stride, the game really came alive and India were able to see how they could match up in a serious situation.
As it turned out, India came through their first real test of this tournament with relative ease in the end. After slumping to 107/5, captain MS Dhoni performed his usual role of ushering his side home with consummate ease.
Scoring 45 off 56 balls, Dhoni was relatively subdued by his standards, but he did exactly what was needed as his side passed their target inside 40 overs.
While this is doubtless not the strongest test that India will face in this tournament, it will do them the world of good to have at least feel like they have been in a contest ahead of the knockout stages.
Despite their 4 victories in 4 matches, I still get the feeling that India could fall apart in the final stages. They obviously have the experience to triumph, having dealt with the pressure of being home favourites in 2011. But this current India side have been too prone to collapses and terribly wayward bowling to fill me with any confidence as to their trophy credentials.
However, I fully expect MS Dhoni and his men to prove me wrong over the coming weeks.
Jack Vittles 