Dhoni stars as India sneak home

Mahendra Singh Dhoni shepherded India over the finishing line with a well-paced unbeaten 46 in St Lucia

India claimed victory with one ball to spare in a rain-hit third one-day international against West Indies in St Lucia.

Set a revised target of 159 from 22 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 46 guided them home for the loss of just four wickets.

West Indies had earlier made 185 from 27 overs, with Ramnaresh Sarwan hitting a solid 62, but it proved insufficient as India took a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

Windies captain Chris Gayle made a typically bullish start to proceedings as he smashed Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra around the park to register six boundaries in a 14-ball 27, only to fall to the latter off the first ball after a rain break.

Runako Morton made 24 before he was stumped by Dhoni off Harbhajan Singh, but Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul took the score to 125 before the latter perished for 15 in the 19th over.

Sarwan's 59-ball innings, which featured five fours and a six, was ended just two overs later as he was run out attempting a second run to square-leg.

Dwayne Bravo (13) and Darren Bravo (21) helped the Windies on their way, but Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir got India off to a promising start as they initially chased 195 for victory.

The openers put on 84 for the first wicket as more rain saw the target revised down before Karthik was run out for 47 attempting a quick single.

Gambhir was caught behind by Denesh Ramdin off Sulieman Benn for 44, while Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma fell cheaply, but Dhoni kept a cool head, hitting Jerome Taylor for six over midwicket in the final over to help India over the line.