India tick the right boxes, go 1-0 up in series
In 15 ODIs before Sunday, the West Indies had been bowled out before their full quota of overs nine times. Sunday, India's historic 1000th ODI at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad turned out to be the 10th.
For a team that was coming from a high of beating England in the T20 series at home, it was a disappointing performance as there were too many soft dismissals as they crashed to 176 all out in 43.5 overs. That total too was possible largely to the skill of the highly dependable Jason Holder and the application shown by Fabian Allen, who rescued them with a 78-run stand from a perilous 79 for 7, on a dryish but decent surface.
The hosts, led by a breezy 60 from Rohit Sharma, who did everything right, including winning the toss, got home in 28 overs with six wickets to spare.
Apart from a chaotic four-ball spell where a hyper-aggressive Virat Kohli got two boundaries, and got bounced once before miscuing a hook to deep square-leg off the pacy Alzarry Joseph, who had dismissed Rohit earlier in the over by trapping him leg-before off a delivery that hurried him, the chase never looked out of control.
Ishan Kishan could not make good use of the chance to bat up the order and contributed just 28 before throwing his hand away. Debutant Deepak Hooda 26* (32) and Suryakumar Yadav 34* (36) then took the team home with a 62-run stand off 63 balls after Rishabh Pant was run out at the non-striker's end as a straight drive from Yadav was deflected onto the stumps by Joseph with Pant backing up too far.
Yadav batted with characteristic flair and even endured a few witty barbs from his Mumbai Indians teammate, Kieron Pollard.
The win though was credit to the bowlers. Offie Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal grabbed seven wickets between them and made good use of a helpful pitch and an opposition that was unwilling to graft and played with hard hands. Both bowled with skill and control though. Chahal's dismissal of Pollard with a googly and getting Shamarh Brooks caught behind with a delivery that drifted in, dipped and spun, showed his class.
India though would be happier with the shift that their two main pacers put in, especially in the first powerplay where India bowled 46 dot balls. Bowling hard lengths, the Mohammed Siraj castled Shai Hope with a scrambled seam delivery. Prasidh Krishna also bowled the heavy ball regularly and picked two wickets, including that off the well-set Holder for 57.
West Indies, who have gone back to some of their Test players, even in their ODI set-up, as they need players who can bat out time, have serious issues to ponder when it comes to their approach and attitude towards games that last longer than 120 deliveries, if they are to make the remaining two games in the series, competitive.
India will be happy that the start of the Rohit-era has ended a run of four successive defeats.
1/8:Chahal, Sundar make Windies dance to their tunes
<p>Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar set up India's comfortable six-wicket victory over the West Indies for the hosts' landmark 1000th ODI on Sunday. (ANI Photo)</p>
2/8:Bowlers justify Rohit's decision
<p>Rohit Sharma took to the field as India's new full-time ODI captain and his decision to bowl was vindicated by the two spinners as the hosts bowled out the West Indies for 176 in Ahmedabad. (BCCI Photo)</p>
3/8:Rohit gives India a flying start
<p>The skipper's top-scoring 60 then helped India romp home in just 28 overs on the day they became the first team to pass the 1000 ODI milestone. (ANI Photo)</p>
4/8:Suryakumar, Hooda take India home
<p>Suryakumar Yadav, who made 34, and debutant Deepak Hooda, who scored 26, saw the team home with their unbeaten stand of 62. (AP Photo)</p>
5/8:Holder comes to the rescue
<p>The West Indies had slipped to 79-7 before Jason Holder hit 57 to salvage some dignity for the visitors. (ANI Photo)</p>
6/8:Holder, Allen lead fightback
<p>Holder put on 78 runs with Fabien Allen, who made 29, to offer some resistance against India's onslaught. (AP Photo)</p>
7/8:Chahal shines with four-wicket haul
<p>Leg-spinner Chahal returned figures of 4-49 including the key wicket of skipper Kieron Pollard for nought to rattle the West Indies batters. (PTI Photo)</p>
