India vs West Indies, 5th ODI: Five unnoticed things from the match

India completed a comprehensive series win over Windies at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram with a nine-wicket win. The home team secured the series with a dominating result of 3-1. The final match turned out to be a one-sided affair which lasted for just 47 overs in total.

In the first ever ODI at the new venue, the Windies captain Jason Holder won the toss and chose to bat first. The tourists lost their top two wickets very early and were pushed to the backfoot straightaway. Marlon Samuels (24) and Jason Holder (25) showed fight with the bat but Windies eventually folded up for 104 runs.

India did lose the opener Shikhar Dhawan early but captain Virat Kohli handled the situation extremely well alongside Rohit Sharma. Both the batsmen received reprieves on the bowling of Oshane Thomas and made the most of it. Rohit was belligerent at the end and finished with 63 from 56 balls while Virat remained not out on 33 from 29 balls.

Here are five Unnoticed things from the match:

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#5 Virat Kohli misses out on the toss whitewash

In the Test tour of England, Virat Kohli was unlucky for constantly losing the toss. By calling the incorrect side of the coin, Virat lost out on the advantage of choosing first and India’s problems were compounded as the English made the best use of the conditions.

Virat’s fortunes were reversed in this ODI series against Windies, though. Astonishingly, the Indian captain managed to win all four tosses in the first four matches. India of course, won two of these matches and one was tied while one was won by Windies.

Today, Virat had the distinction of becoming the only Indian captain to win all the five tosses of a bilateral series at home. Previously Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni had won all tosses of the series but these were played outside India. However, breaking the streak, Jason Holder won the toss today and decided to bat first.

#4 The Powell pair at the top

Windies in this series missed the services of their regular openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. The explosive duo was unavailable for the selection, and the team from the Caribbean had to find a new opening combination for the series.

The touring team initially experimented with Chandrapaul Hemraj and Kieron Powell. Hemraj made his ODI debut in the series while Powell had opened for Windies in the Test series with some good results. The make-shift pair did not yield expected results, and Windies had to rely on the middle order to rescue them every time.

In the fifth and the final ODI of the series, Windies dropped Hemraj and promoted Rovman Powell from number six to the top spot. Rovman had never opened in the ODIs before, and his elevation brought both the ‘Powells’ together at the crease. The move did not work out though as Kieron was dismissed in the first over itself while Rovman was out for 16 from 39 balls.

#3 Windies avoid the conceding the lowest ODI first-innings total in India

Windies lost their opening batsman Kieron Powell and most reliable batsman Shai Hope very early in their innings. Marlon Samuels looked alive for the first time in the series and scored a decent 24 before he got out. The Indian bowlers ripped out rest of the batting lineup with the exception of the captain Jason Holder who scored a fighting 25.

At the score of 103/9, Windies were on the doorstep of conceding an unwanted record. The record for the lowest first innings total against India in India belonged to New Zealand who was all out for 103 in Chennai in 2010. India won that ODI by eight wickets.

Today, Devendra Bishoo added one run to the score to carry Windies from 103/9 to 104/9. Ravindra Jadeja then trapped Oshane Thomas in front of the stumps in the next over and Windies fell for 104 thus crossing the 103-run mark.

#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar and MS Dhoni miss out on their significant landmarks

Coming into the fifth game of the series, two Indian cricketers eyed major achievements in ODI cricket. One was MS Dhoni who was looking forward to completing his 10,000th run in the ODI cricket for India while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was set to complete his 100 ODI wickets.

The Indian legend, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has 10,173 runs in ODIs, however, 174 runs of these were scored while representing Asia XI. This left him at 9,999 runs in ODI cricket for India. With only 105 runs needed to win, India did not need MS Dhoni with the bat and he remains on 9,999 runs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar before this match had grabbed 98 scalps in ODI cricket. This being the last ODI of the series, the Uttar Pradesh swing bowler needed two more wickets to complete his hundred. He took the first step forward by dismissing Kieron Powell in the first over itself but failed to take any other wickets. Bhuvi finished with the bowling figures of 1/11 in four overs and will have to wait to complete his 100.

#1 India’s ODI domination at home

After the dismal showing of Windies in the Test series, there were not many hopes from them in the ODI series that followed. However, improving their performance in the shorter format of the game, Windies gave a stern fight to the Indian team in their own backyard.

A tied match in the second game and a thumping win in the third game brought the series scoreline to 1-1 and this endangered India’s brilliant record at home. The men in blue fought back brilliantly in the next two matches and sealed the series 3-1. This is India’s eight consecutive series win against Windies.

This also marks India’s incredible run at home. In the last ten years, the Indian team has won 18 out of 21 bilateral series hosted. Since the 2-3 series loss against South Africa in October 2015, India has won six consecutive ODI series in the home conditions. These include New Zealand, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Windies.