Kohli's unbeaten 139, Gill's hundred and Kuldeep's four-for power India to 8-wicket win over West Indies in 1st ODI
Kuldeep's 4 for 40 held West Indies to 295/7 after a 135-run opening stand, then Kohli and Gill added 150 as India chased it down with 50 balls to spare in Thiruvananthapuram.
India opened the three-match ODI series against West Indies with a commanding eight-wicket win at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Chasing 296, India got there in 41.4 overs with 50 balls to spare, taking a 1-0 lead.
Toss and pitch report
India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first. The surface was flat with very little grass, the sort of pitch where batters can play freely once set. With cloud cover early and dew expected under lights, chasing was the clear call, and it worked out exactly that way.
India vs West Indies playing XI
- India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Naman Dhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Gurnoor Brar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna. Naman Dhir made his ODI debut.
- West Indies: John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (c, wk), Amir Jangoo, Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales.
West Indies innings: 295/7 in 50 overs
West Indies started strongly. John Campbell (62 off 60, six fours, three sixes) and Justin Greaves put on 135 for the first wicket, and for a while a total well past 320 looked likely. Greaves went on to a maiden ODI hundred, making 101 off 108 balls with 12 fours.
Kuldeep changed the game. He broke the opening stand by getting Campbell caught by Prasidh Krishna, then had Greaves, who had been deceived by his variations, lbw. He also removed Shai Hope (12) and Jewel Andrew, who was out first ball. From a position of strength, West Indies had lost their way in the middle overs.
Amir Jangoo kept them going with an unbeaten 58 off 43 balls, and his 48-run stand for the sixth wicket with Roston Chase (24) got them to 295. Prasidh Krishna finished with 2 for 60, Nitish Kumar Reddy took 1 for 45 and Ravindra Jadeja went wicketless in a tidy 10 overs for 54.
Kuldeep Yadav's match-turning spell
Kuldeep finished with 10-1-40-4 at an economy of 4. On a flat pitch where the rest of the attack went at 5.4 an over or more, he was the only bowler the West Indies batters could not get away. Without that spell, India would have been chasing well over 300.
India's chase: 300/2 in 41.4 overs
Rohit Sharma gave India a quick start with 32 off 35 balls, including three sixes, before Alzarri Joseph had him caught by Jewel Andrew with the score on 75.
That brought Virat Kohli out to join his captain, and the pair put the chase beyond doubt with a 150-run stand for the second wicket.
Shubman Gill's captain's knock
Gill anchored the innings with 110 off 108 balls, hitting 13 fours and a six. It was his 10th ODI hundred. Roston Chase eventually had him caught by Jewel Andrew, with India on 225.
Virat Kohli's masterclass: 139* off 88
Kohli was at his best. He reached his hundred off 74 balls with a six off Gudakesh Motie and kept going, finishing unbeaten on 139 off 88 balls with 10 fours and nine sixes, at a strike rate close to 158. Along the way he passed 15,000 ODI runs, becoming only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to do so, and brought up his 55th ODI century.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (13 not out) stayed with him through an unbroken 75-run stand as India finished the job in the 42nd over. Alzarri Joseph (1 for 81) and Roston Chase (1 for 64) were the only wicket-takers for West Indies.
Key partnerships
- Campbell and Greaves: 135 for the 1st wicket (WI)
- Jangoo and Chase: 48 for the 6th wicket (WI)
- Rohit and Gill: 75 for the 1st wicket (IND)
- Gill and Kohli: 150 for the 2nd wicket (IND)
- Kohli and Gaikwad: 75* for the 3rd wicket (IND)
What's next
India lead the series 1-0. Check tryball.in for the date, IST start time, and the TV channel and streaming app for the 2nd ODI.