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Kohli, Rohit guide India to easy win
Highlights
Kohli, Rohit guide India to easy win. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit sparkling half-centuries as a clinical India continued their domination over West Indies by thrashing the visitors by six wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series, here today.
Kochi: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit sparkling half-centuries as a clinical India continued their domination over West Indies by thrashing the visitors by six wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series, here today.
Asked to bowl, spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina exploited the low and slow conditions of the Nehru Stadium wicket effectively to bundle out West Indies for a meagre 211 in 48.5 overs.
Kohli then smashed 86 off 84 balls, while Rohit made 72 off 81 balls to help India chased down the target with consummate ease in 35.2 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Kohli decorated his knock with nine boundaries and two huge sixes, while Rohit's innings was laced with eight hits to the fence and one over it.
India, however, received a jolt early on in their chase in the form of Shikhar Dhawan (5). Dhawan departed in the fourth over as he edged a back of a length delivery from Jason Holder to Johnson Charles behind the stumps with scoreboard reading 17.
But then Rohit and Kohli joined hands and shared a 133-run second wicket stand that came off just 130 deliveries to lay the foundation for an easy win.
Earlier, Jadeja finished with three for 34, while Raina took three for 37 to rock the West Indies batting line-up. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also chipped in with two wickets giving away 42 runs.
Darren Bravo was the lone West Indian batsman to cross the 50-run mark, hitting a patient 77-ball 59, laced with four fours and two sixes.
Opting to bat, West Indies lost Chris Gayle off the very first ball of the match as the destructive batsman fell short of his ground while trying to take a risky single.
Gayle, in fact, hurt himself while he tried to dive in and had to be carried out of the ground in a stretcher.
But West Indies recovered quickly from the early loss and opener Charles joined hands with Marlon Samuels to put on a solid 65-run partnership for the second wicket.
The duo played with a lot of responsibility and picked on the loose deliveries to play their shots. Having taken a couple of overs to settle down, the West Indies batsmen chose Jaydev Unadkat for special treatment.
In Unadkat's second over, Samuels hit a six over cover before Charles took over.
Charles repeatedly chose the aerial route during his 34-ball 42 (7X4, 1X6), which included three consecutive fours in a Bhuvaneshwar Kumar over.
But introduction of Jadeja changed the trend.
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