India thump Windies as Rohit Sharma alone outscores visitors

Team India registered their biggest margin of victory in the ODIs against a Top 10 nation as they defeated the Jason Holder-led West Indies side by whopping 224 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

After the first three matches of the five-match ODI series, both India (won the first ODI at Guwahati) and Windies (won the third ODI at Pune) secured a victory each with the second ODI at Vishakhapatnam ending in a dramatic tie.

The Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai hosted its first ever ODI game in almost 12 years after the match which was slated to be hosted at the Wankhede Stadium was moved out due to the dispute between the BCCI and MCA.

On a hot and humid day adjacent to the gorgeous Arabian Sea, Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first in a bid to put heavy runs on the board. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave the hosts a scintillating start as the first wicket partnership that yielded 71 runs in 12 overs for Kohli's men.

After Dhawan's dismissal, the skipper walked into the crease and met with a rare failure with the bat (scored three consecutive centuries in the first three ODIs) as he was dismissed for 16.

Rohit Sharma

But, local boy Rohit Sharma had other plans as he was at his belligerent best right from the word 'go'. Rohit amassed his 21st ODI century in an innings loaded with 20 fours and four sixes. He went onto score 162 (137), thereby registering his seventh 150-plus score in the ODIs.

Hitman was very well complemented by number four batsman, Ambati Rayudu who scored his third ODI century (100 off 81 balls) as the duo added 211 runs for the third wicket. This propelled India to a massive 377-5 in 50 overs and handed a gigantic target to chase down for the Windies.

Star player Shai Hope was dismissed for a duck so was Shimron Hetmyer, who got out on 13 off Khaleel Ahmed's delivery. Captain Holder was the lone warrior for the visitors as he scored 54*(70) while other batsmen failed miserably with the bat as they were bundled out for just 153 in 36.2 overs- courtesy the three-wicket hauls of Kuldeep and Khaleel.

Thus, India registered a massive 224 run victory in Mumbai- their highest margin of win in the ODIs against a top 10 ODI nation. The fifth and final ODI will be played at Thiruvananthapuram on November 1 and both the teams will be vying for a win to sign off with a win (India though, for a series win).