Gayle blow for Windies
VISAKHAPATNAM: A dominant India would look to seal the one-day series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead against a struggling West Indies, who are proving to be a complete mismatch to the World champions, as the two teams square off in the second match on Sunday.
After a listless performance in the Test series, losing explosive opener Chris Gayle to an injury has added to the woes and worries of the Caribbean side, who now face a do-or-die situation to save the series.
The West Indies were expected to do better in the short format but they have failed to put up a fight as their batsmen continue to struggle.
The reversal of fortunes has eluded the visitors as India cantered to a six-wicket victory with 88 deliveries to spare to take a 1-0 lead in Kochi.
The victory was soothing for the wounded Indian bowlers who were pulverised in the last ODI series against Australia as they could finally exert some pressure on the batting fraternity.
Back after given a rest to heal his shoulder injury in the Test series, Ravindra Jadeja led the spin attack by taking three wickets to bowl the Windies out for a paltry 211.
For a team that had chased down 350-plus totals thrice to win the ODI series against Australia not so long ago, it was a cakewalk as they cruised home by six wickets with 88 deliveries to spare.
Indian trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan have been the force behind the batting as they have shown no target is safe.
Man-of-the-Match Kohli struck 86 in the first ODI and in the process emulated Sir Viv Richards’s feat of 5,000 runs from 114 innings as his 133-run partnership with Rohit Sharma (72) set up the chase against the Windies.
After six years of obscurity, it is the talented Sharma who has been a revelation since he was promoted to open against England at Mohali in January this year.
The figures say it all. In 26 matches as an opener, Sharma aggregates 1172 at 53.27, compared to his career total of 3121 (at 37.15), that is more than 37 per cent of the runs.
Sharma relished the role to perfection in India’s Champions Trophy victory in June, became the third ever batsman to post a double century before finally getting the Test cap after playing 108 ODIs.
The Test debut too has been of a fairy tale kind as he has posted back-to-back centuries — 177 and 111*, as he has five consecutive fifty-plus scores in International cricket. He would look to enthrall the spectators at a ‘special’ venue which is his mom Purnima Sharma’s home town.
The ACA-VDCA Stadium has always been lucky for India who have won all the four matches here right from the very first one on April 5, 2005 when a long-haired Dhoni came into prominence with his 123-ball 148 to devastate Pakistanis.
Since then, Kohli with two consecutive centuries here — against Australia and the West Indies — has also made this one of his favourite venues as he would be looking forward to a hat-trick of tons.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Jaydev Unadkat, R Vinay Kumar, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma and Amit Mishra.
West Indies: Dwayne Bravo (c), Johnson Charles (wk), Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Narsingh Deonarine, Darren Sammy, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Tino Best, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin. (PTI)