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Dhoni sees gradual improvement

India captain MS Dhoni believes his side are slowly shaking off their vulnerability to a batting collapse as the ICC Cricket World Cup quarter-finals approach.

India beat West Indies by 80 runs in Chennai, ensuring they will face Australia in the last eight, but they won only by virtue of the opposition suffering a worse slump in their innings than they did.

India posted 268 on the back of Yuvraj Singh's 113, but it could have been more had they not lost their last seven wickets for 51 runs.

West Indies then surrendered even more tamely, seemingly cruising on 154 for two before losing eight for 34 to be bowled out for 188.

Asked if their inability to finish an innings well was a concern, Dhoni said: "It is but you can see there is a gradual improvement.

"Hopefully in the quarters we'll be at our best. That's the positive we're taking out of it."

The India captain singled out Zaheer Khan for special praise after he finished with three for 26 and triggered the collapse by cleaning up Devon Smith, who made 81.

"The game really changed once Zaheer (Khan) gave us the breakthrough," Dhoni said. "Until then Devon (Smith) was batting really well. After that we could put pressure on both sides."

Asked about their quarter-final opponents, Australia, Dhoni said: "They are a very good side, they play tough cricket and also are quite expressive on the pitch. We'll give our best and it's not about the result, the process is important."

Losing captain Darren Sammy agreed that West Indies have to step up their game to make further progress in the tournament.

Sammy said: "We're in the knock-out stage so we have to tighten up and tighten up quickly. We have to bring our A game against Pakistan."

Regarding his team's innings, Sammy said: "We lost eight wickets for 30-odd runs, that's a concern. But we're in the knock-out and anything could happen."

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