Ind vs WI, 1st ODI: Sundar, Chahal bamboozle WI with spin power, India win by 6 wickets

Sundar - Chahal share seven wickets among them, help India win 1000th ODI.

Rohit Sharma scores half century on his return. (©BCCI)

Brief Scores: India 178 for 4 (Rohit Sharma 60, Suryakumar Yadav 34*; Alzarri Joseph 2/45) beat West Indies 176 all-out (Jason Holder 57, Fabien Allen 29; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/49, Washington Sundar 3/30) by six wickets

After suffering a crushing defeat against the Proteas last month, India geared up well to spring back and hosted West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday, February 6. Having recuperated well, captain Rohit Sharma returned to action to lead a well-balanced squad for the series. With some of their key players namely Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and Navdeep Saini out after testing positive for Covid-19, the squad handed over the maiden cap to Deepak Hooda.

The squad was well-balanced out by players with the likes of Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur in the mix. On the other hand, riding high on confidence, the West Indies team came after defeating a formidable England team by 3-2 in the freshly concluded T20I series in the Caribbean. The Kieron Pollard-led team, despite coming without their key players - Shimron Hetmyer and Elwin Lewis - were equipped with their in-form emerging stars - Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd, Covid-19 recovered Fabian Allen and Brandon King.

The 22-yard surface at Narendra Modi Stadium

With the Narendra Modi Stadium hosting its first ODI, which was also India's milestone match, their 1000th ODI, the pitch had a lot of surprises to offer, favouring the bowling side. In their quest to register their 519th ODI win, India opted to chase after winning the toss and started the game on a high note.

Visitors’ top-order batting topples

Playing a combination of both experienced players and youngsters, the Indian team didn’t have to struggle for the first wicket. Mohammed Siraj, relatively more experienced amongst the pacers, drew first blood for the side in the 3rd over of the West Indies innings. He bowled a beautiful cutter and went through Shai Hope’s defence and rattled his stumps when West Indies’ scorecard read 13/1.

New batter Darren Bravo arrived at the crease next and paired up with Brandon King, who struggled to decipher the length and pace of both Prasidh Krishna and Siraj. He barely managed to get boundaries and eventually gave away his wicket just after the powerplay. The second wicket was to the courtesy of Washington Sundar, who troubled both the batters in the middle, and eventually got rewarded with two wickets in the same over. He dismissed Darren Bravo (13 runs off 34 balls) and Brandon King (13 runs off 26 balls). The visitors were struggling to hold on to get a good start as their score was 45/3 after 12 overs.

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Sundar-Chahal share seven wickets among them on return. (Image Credits: BCCI)

Chahal rips apart WI middle order, takes 100 wickets in ODIs

Skipper Rohit Sharma introduced Yuzvendra Chahal into the bowling with a ploy to get going with the wicket-taking spree. Chahal took no time and inflicted the first damage from his side when he dismissed Nicholas Pooran leg before wicket for 18 off 25 deliveries. Chahal reached the milestone of 100 wickets in his 60th ODI game.

He continued the onslaught with the ball and dismissed the dangerous WI skipper Kieron Pollard for a golden duck with a beautifully pitched googly. Chahal was roaring and wanting more wickets and returned for yet another wicket and took down Shamarh Brooks, who was looking to nurture his innings while batting on 12 runs off 26 deliveries. Chahal ended as India’s most successful Indian bowler in the match, having finished with figures of 4/49 in 9.5 overs he bowled.

Holder anchors WI innings

While the visitors succumbed to the pressure of sublime Indian bowling, Jason Holder came to the crease after more than half the team returned to the pavilion and were struggling at 79/7. However, Holder and Fabian Allen registered a decent partnership of 78 runs for the 8th wicket. They helped the visitors’ innings cross the 100-run mark and further took the score above the 150-run mark. Holder scored his 10th half-century in One-Day Internationals with a couple of runs towards deep-mid wicket off Sundar’s ball and also raised hopes for his side for a respectable total. He also became the fifth West Indies player to score 2000+ runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs.

However, the visitors’ hopes were shortlived as the Indian skipper brought in Prasidh Krishna in the 38th over, which turned out to be a successful tactic as the pacer dismissed both the set batters (Holder for 57 Fabian Allen for 27) and put West Indies on the backseat. Krishna also finished as the most economical of bowlers and finished with figures of 2/29 during his spell. West Indies got bowled out at 176 in 43.5 overs, owing to an overall brilliant display by the Indian bowlers.

Indian openers ease it out

Chasing a modest target of 177 runs, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan got off to a satisfying start and got regular boundaries. The left-right batting combination dominated the West Indies bowling, as on one end, the Indian skipper kept the run flow going, while on the other end, Ishan Kishan spent time in the middle getting to know the pitch.

Rohit clinically completed his 40th half century and also his first since getting appointed as the full-time limited-overs skipper. However, he got dismissed leg before wicket off Alzarri Joseph’s delivery while batting on 60 runs off 51 deliveries. West Indies did get the first breakthrough eventually when they got Rohit and India’s score read 84/1.

New batter, Virat Kohli came to the crease at one down and smacked Alzarri Joseph for two consecutive boundaries. He was roaring to score big but got out off the fourth delivery he faced with a top edge that was grabbed at long leg and departed at 8 runs off 4 deliveries. But the Indian chase was well in control, especially after the brilliant bowling display from the bowlers that put the hosts in command.

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Surya-Hooda pair complete the chase

West Indies were briefly back into the game after sending back the Indian skipper and Kohli, followed by dismissing Ishan Kishan for 28 (36). Alzarri Joseph also inflicted a run-out, resulting in the departure of Rishabh Pant (11 off 9), and remained the key performer amongst the WI bowlers and finished with 2/45 in the 7 bowlers he bowled.

However, new batters Suryakumar Yadav and debutant Deepak Hooda added 62 runs for the 6th wicket to take India home. Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten 34* off 36 deliveries, while Deepak Hooda remained not out on 26*. Surya scored the winning boundary, as India got a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series winning the first ODI by 6 wickets in 28 overs.

IND vs WI, 1st ODI: Player of the match

Yuzvendra Chahal lifted the player of the match award for his 4/49, wherein he overwhelmed the WI’s middle-order with his googlies, en route his 100-wickets feat in ODIs. He derailed WI’s innings that resulted in India restricting the visitors to a paltry 176 runs.

Here are some of the top twitter reactions from INDvsWI first ODI:

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