Kohli equals Viv Richards record
Kochi: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit sparkling half-centuries as a clinical India continued their domination over West Indies by thrashing the visitors by six wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series, here on Thursday.
Asked to bowl, the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina exploited the low and slow conditions of the Nehru Stadium wicket effectively to bundle out West Indies for a meagre 211 in 48.5 overs.
Kohli then smashed 86 off 84 balls, while Rohit made 72 off 81 balls to help India chased down the target with consummate ease in 35.2 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Kohli decorated his knock with nine fours and two huge sixes, while Rohit’s innings was laced with eight hits to the fence and one over it.
Rohit and Kohli joined hands and shared a 133-run second wicket stand that came off just 130 deliveries to lay the foundation for an easy win.
None of the West Indies bowlers seemed to create any trouble for Kohli and Rohit as both the batsmen adopted attacking approach from the onset to take the game out of the visitor’s grasp.
Rohit brought up his 19th ODI fifty off 53 balls as India reached the 100-run mark in 15.3 overs.
Kohli was not to be left behind as he reached his half-century in 58 balls with a single off Dwayne Bravo in the 24th over.
But just when it seemed the duo would take India home without any further damage, Rohit mistimed a pull to Lendl Simmons at deep midwicket off Ravi Rampaul’s bowling in the next over.
Kohli, however, was in no mood to get bogged down by the dismissal as he continued his attacking game.
With India needing just 26 runs to win, Kohli clobbered Holder over the square-leg boundary to bring up his 5,000 runs in the 50-over format in just 114 innings and become the joint quickest to reach the landmark along with West Indian batting legend Viv Richards.
But Kohli perished in the very next ball in search of one too many as, looking to loft the ball straight over the bowler’s head, he mistimed a shot to Sunil Narine, who gleefully accepted the skier.
Next in, Suresh Raina’s woeful form with the bat continued as he went for a duck, handing an easy catch to Holder at point off Narine’s bowling.
Yuvraj Singh (16 not out) and skipper MS Dhoni (12 not out) then ensured that there was no further damage as they took India home.
Earlier, Jadeja finished with three for 34, while Raina took three for 37 to rock the West Indies batting line-up.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also chipped in with two wickets, giving away 42 runs.
Darren Bravo was the lone West Indian batsman to cross the 50-run mark, hitting a patient 77-ball 59, laced with four fours and two sixes.
Opting to bat, West Indies lost Chris Gayle off the very first ball of the match as the destructive batsman fell short of his ground while trying to take a risky single.
Gayle, in fact, hurt himself while he tried to dive in and had to be carried out of the ground in a stretcher.
Even though he is delighted to share the feat with Richards, Kohli said he never goes on to bat thinking about records.
“I was told in Bangalore during the last ODI (about the record) but I did not really remember it because I do not approach a game thinking about records. I said to myself that if you bat well, along the way these milestones are bound to happen,” he said at the post-match press conference.
“To equal a feat with a player like him (Richards) is a very good feeling but it does not stop here because it is more or less the beginning. It is nice to equal his record but still there is a long way to go,” Kohli said. (PTI)
SCORECARD
West Indies:
C Gayle run out 0
J Charles c & b Jadeja 42
M Samuels b Raina 24
Darren Bravo b Shami 59
L Simmons lbw b Raina 29
N Deonarine b Raina 4
Dw Bravo st Dhoni b Jadeja 24
D Sammy c Kumar b Jadeja 5
J Holder not out 16
S Narine c & b Ashwin 0
R Rampaul c Dhawan b A’win 1
Extras: (lb-1, w-6) 7
Total: (all out; 48.5 overs) 211
FOW: 1-0, 2-65, 3-77, 4-142, 5-152, 6-183, 7-187, 8-204, 9-206
Bowling: Kumar 5-0-26-0, Unadkat 6-0-39-0, Shami 6-0-28-1, Jadeja 10-0-37-3, Raina 10-1-34-3, Ashwin 9.5-0-42-2, Sharma 2-0-4-0
India:
R Sharma c Simmons b R’paul 72
S Dhawan c Charles b Holder 5
V Kohli c Narine b Holder 86
Yuvraj not out 16
S Raina c Holder b Narine 0
MS Dhoni not out 13
Extras: (b-5, w-15) 20
Total: (4 wkts; 35.2 overs) 212
FOW: 1-17, 2-150, 3-192, 4-194
Bowling: Rampaul 8-0-39-1, Holder 8-0-48-2, Sammy 2-0-14-0, Narine 10-1-57-1, Deonarine 2-0-15-0, Simmons 3-0-14-0, Dw Bravo 2.2-0-20-0