by TONY COZIER

THE West Indies just managed to survive a brief, but typical, bout of unnecessary panic to beat India by three wickets with two balls remaining in Ahmedabad yesterday and secure their place in semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.

For the first 97.5 of the 100 overs, they played with enough discipline, confidence and intelligence to indicate that they were fully capable of repeating their triumph in the last such tournament in England in 2004 – and even raise long-term optimism for next year's World Cup in the Caribbean.

For the last 12 balls, until Marlon Samuels uppercut medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar to the third man boundary and plunged an increasingly vociferous crowd of over 50 000 into stunned silence, they reverted to the recklessness that has consistently caused them to pluck defeat from the clenched jaws of victory.

With 2.2 overs left and seven wickets intact, the West Indies had built the seemingly impregnable position.

Only 12 were needed to overhaul India's modest 223 for nine from their 50 overs and complete their second successive victory in the group, following that over No.1 seeds Australia in Mumbai eight days earlier.

Suddenly, and with an agonising sense of déjà vu, four wickets tumbled for seven runs from eight balls so that the equation was five runs from the last five balls with two tense new batsmen at the wicket against the backdrop of the roars of a recharged crowd.

The collapse began when the resolute Runako Morton, a junior but significant partner with Ramnaresh Sarwan in a fourth-wicket partnership of 92 in 20.5 overs, was lbw for 45 missing a wicked cross-haul off Agarkar.

Captain Brian Lara, still hindered by the back injury sustained in the match against Australia, entered at No. 6 for the second successive innings. He stroked a trademark four to cover off the third ball of the next over and then dragged the left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan back into his stumps with an ugly slash unbecoming of one of the game's greatest batsmen.

Two balls later, Samuels' top-edged pull lobbed safely over mid-on, only for Sarwan's unflustered, ideally paced innings of 53 from 81 balls to end with a run out at the bowler's end in the ensuing confusion.

Dwayne Smith, who replaced him, was bowled by Agarkar first ball, the first of the final over, and it took a scrambled single by wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh and Samuels' slashed boundary to clinch the win with two balls to go.

Nothing that had gone before hinted at such a decline.

Controlled bowling, shrewdly manipulated by captain Brian Lara and supported by sharp ground fielding typified by Dwayne Smith's crucial, spectacular, direct hit run out of the threatening Indian captain Rahul Dravid for 49, restricted India's paper-powerful batting after Lara chose to bowl on winning the toss.

Their woes were initiated by Ian Bradshaw, the left-armer now rated by the ICC No. 3 among ODI bowlers, whose three wickets for 30 included Sachin Tendulkar, and Jerome Taylor, hat-trick hero of the victory over Australian, who once more unsettled the opposition with his pace and directness.

Medium-pacer Dwayne Smith and off-spinner Marlon Samuels kept a lid on the scoring and it took wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni's late strong-arm hitting for 51 off 65 balls, that included successive, leg-side sixes off Chris Gayle in the 47th over, to boost India's total. But Dravid estimated that it was 20 to 30 runs short of what was required.

Man Of The Match Shivnarine Chanderpaul's successive partnerships of 43 with Gayle and 57 with the new No. 3 Dwayne Bravo set the West Indies on their way. Sarwan's stand with Morton, carefully fashioned against the guileful off-spin of Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag, who conceded 63 from their combined 20 overs, saw to it that the West Indies required only 12 off the last 13 balls with Lara in next.

But then came the nerve-wracking climax.

The West Indies remain the only unbeaten team in the group stage. Their wins over Australia and India render their last group match against England, also in the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad tomorrow, of mere academic interest. England have already lost to Australia and India, who contest the second semi-final place in Sunday's last group match in Mohali.

New Zealand have qualified from the other group, with South Africa and Pakistan contesting the other place in their match in Mohali today.