India vs West Indies 2013: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma take India past West Indies to take the lead in ODI series

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did it yet again for India

A 133 run partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma took India home comprehensively in the first ODI against the West Indies at Kochi. After bowling out the West Indies for just 211, India notched up a victory in just 35.2 overs with 6 wickets in hand.

India, chasing a total of 211, romped home and took the lead in the series thanks to a brilliant display of batsmanship from their two most celebrated upcoming stars, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma made a strokeful 72 while Virat Kohl notched up his 27th ODI half century.

But it was the Indian bowlers who set up the game for the batsmen. After a forgettable Australian series, the Indian bowlers found some respite on a Kochi track that was double paced and offered plenty of turn. The Indian spinners, who were taken to the cleaners in the last ODI series, made full use of it and ripped apart the West Indian batting.

The Indian chase got off to a rocky start after Shikhar Dhawan (5) departed to a superb delivery from Jason Holder. The ball pitched on one of the cracks on the pitch and took off, taking the edge of the Indian left handed opener. Kohli came out to join Rohit Sharma and the duo took on the West Indies bowlers on a track that behaved awkwardly throughout the game.

Kohli started his innings with a lovely cover drive and Sharma got into his own after a few uneasy edges to begin with. The West Indies bowlers however, tried their best to trouble the two but couldn’t apply much pressure as the Indian pair rotated the strike at will and deposited the bad deliveries to the fence.

Rohit Sharma, who has been in the form of his life, became the leading run-getter in ODIs in 2013, surpassing Misbah-ul Haq’s 1119 during his innings on 72. On a pitch that had variable bounce, Rohit Sharma played mostly in the “v” and took the aerial route when the bowlers pitched it short. He played the danger man Sunil Narine with exceptional ease and the West Indian spinner struggled to create an impression on a track that should have suited him.

Sharma looked good for yet another hundred before he held out to Lendl Simmons at deep square leg off Ravi Rampaul while trying to clear the ground. His innings of 72 came off just 81 balls and contained 8 fours and a six.

Virat Kohli, on the other end, went about his business as usual and played yet another important innings while chasing a target. He went on to score 86 and equalled Sir Viv Richards’ record in becoming the fastest man to score 5000 ODI runs in just 114 innings.

He looked in complete control and played his shots all around the ground taking the advantage of a spineless West Indian bowling attack. However, he failed to clear the ground off Holder and held out at long off denying himself of a well deserved century.

After the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket, Yuvraj Singh ahead of Suresh Raina. India had been experimenting by sending in Raina before Yuvraj during the Australia series. Raina, who walked in at 5 after Kohli’s dismissal, failed yet again as Sunil Narine got the better of him. However, today Yuvraj came into his favoured positing and looked at ease as he steered the team home along with MS Dhoni.

Ravindra Jadeja takes a stunning return catch

Earlier, West Indies ODI captain Dwayne Bravo elected to bat after winning the toss. In hot, sultry conditions, Bravo wanted the Indian fielders sweat but the batsmen of his side, yet again, failed to deliver.

West Indies suffered a huge blow in the first over itself, when Chris Gayle was run out brilliantly by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Gayle, who has been quite a bunny for Kumar wanted to get off strike with a quick single. Kumar raced to the ball, turned and threw down the stumps at the non striker’s end.

Gayle was caught way short of his ground but that wasn’t the real blow that the Windies suffered. As Gayle dived into the crease, he did some serious damage to himself as he failed to get back on his feet and had to be stretchered off. Later it was confirmed that he has had a hamstring tear and would not be able to take part in the series anymore.

West Indies though recovered well after the loss of the early wicket as Johnston Charles went on the counter attack and flayed Jaydev Unadkat to all parts of the ground. Marlon Samuels too struck up a good partnership and added 65 runs before Ravindra Jadeja flung himself to his left to catch a blinder to dismiss Charles for 42.

Samuels was the next to go as Suresh Raina, the man with the best bowling figures for India, castled him. Samuels, batting on 24, was beaten by a delivery that kept very low and literally crawled on the pitch to knock him over.

From there on, it was all about the Indian spinners. Raina and Jadeja bowled tight lines and the West Indian batsmen got bogged down unable to rotate the strike. Darren Bravo survived a close bat-pad appeal but Lendl Simmons (29) fell to Raina when he was struck in front . The replays however, showed that the ball might have spun past the leg stump.

Raina then got the better of Narsingh Deonarine (4) while Jadeja came back to claim the wickets of Dwayne Bravo (24) and Darren Sammy (8).

Darren Bravo was the only batsman who showed some fight on a track that spun and kept low. His innings of 59 off 77 deliveries included 4 fours and 2 sixes. He twice lofted Jadeja into the stands and drove Ashwin beautifully through the covers to take West Indies past the 200 run mark. However, his vigil at the crease was ended by Md. Shami, who beat him with pace and knocked over his off stump.

For India Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja broke the Windies middle order and picked up 3 wickets each while Ashwin picked cleaned up the tail by claiming two.

The next game will be at Visakhapatnam on the 24th of this month.