India vs West Indies 2019: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav star in series-levelling win for hosts
Visakhapatnam witnessed glimpses of what India's supremely talented batting unit can achieve when they are at the top of their game. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul laid the foundation with scintillating hundreds before Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer wreaked havoc in tandem, catapulting India to a mammoth 387/5. Courtesy Kuldeep Yadav's hat-trick and Mohammed Shami's three-fer, India defended the target rather comfortably and levelled the series in emphatic fashion.
After being put in to bat first, India swiftly gained the upper hand as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul made full use of the excellent batting conditions. Rahul yielded the initial burst slashing Jason Holder over point before waltzing down the surface and launching Khary Pierre over mid-wicket. Meanwhile, Rohit happily played second fiddle, nurdling singles and collecting occasional boundaries. For Windies, looking for a breakthrough, the golden opportunity arrived when Rohit miscued a hoick, but Shimron Hetmyer dropped the skier charging in from long-off.
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Capitalizing heavily, Rohit drove his proverbial sword through the opposition. The opener unfurled his wide repertoire of strokes and notched up his 28th ODI century in short order. Rahul acknowledged the change in dynamics and eased himself to the milestone before perishing to Alzarri Joseph while looking to accelerate. The crowd fell silent as Virat Kohli fell for a rare golden duck. However, the dismissal had negligible effects on the frenetic scoring rate as Iyer and Pant took command. Bombarding the leg side with aplomb, Iyer thumped Roston Chase for 31 in the 47th over and smashed his fourth consecutive fifty in the process.
The daunting asking rate forced Windies batsmen to take risks straightaway, naturally paving way for errors. Much to India's chagrin, their recent habit of fielding blunders miserably stretched for yet another game. Rahul shelled an easy chance at second slip, gifting Shai Hope a fortunate reprieve. Thankfully, Shardul Thakur drew first blood soon as Lewis' pull found square leg. The Windies had barely recuperated when Iyer removed danger-man Hetmyer with a sensational piece of groundwork. The youngster plunged to save a certain boundary before lasering a rocket throw at the non-striker's end to catch Hetmyer napping.
Ravindra Jadeja knocked over Roston Chase, leaving the visitors quivering at 86/3. Nicholas Pooran joined Shai Hope in the middle to anchor the Windies chase. Following a watchful beginning, the southpaw channelized his instinctive flamboyance and executed a measured counter-attack that saw India feel the heat. Exacerbating India's woes, Deepak Chahar dropped a regulation catch at long-off.
Pooran's 106-run partnership with Hope saw Windies wrestle back the advantage but Mohammed Shami's twin strike quashed the prospect of an incredible resurgence. While the hostile quick bounced out Pooran, Kieron Pollard nicked behind for zero. Chinaman Yadav dismissed Hope, Holder, and Joseph to register his second ODI hat-trick. Keemo Paul delayed the inevitable with some late fireworks, but Shami unleashed a zipping yorker to finish proceedings and seal India's comprehensive 107-run victory over Windies.
Brief scores: India 387/5 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 159, KL Rahul 102; Sheldon Cottrell 2-83) beat West Indies 280 in 43.3 overs (Shai Hope 78, Nicholas Pooran 75; Mohammed Shami 3-39, Kuldeep Yadav 3-52) by 107 runs.