India marked their 1000th ODI with a spectacular victory over West Indies in a one-sided contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, February 6. The hosts were dominant throughout the game and barring a slight stutter in the chase, it was a clinical performance from Rohit Sharma's side as the star player began his reign as full-time ODI skipper with an emphatic victory. With this win, India now have a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. India vs West Indies 1st ODI 2022: Rohit Sharma, Spinners Help Hosts Win by Six Wickets To Take 1–0 Series Lead
Chasing 177 to win, India got off to a flying start with Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan putting up 84 runs for the first wicket. Skipper Sharma was impressive in particular, scoring a stylish 60 off 51 balls with 10 fours and one six. Alzarri Joseph's two-wicket burst in the 14th over--where he dismissed Sharma and Virat Kohli (8) opened up some space for West Indies in this game but the target was too small. India did lose another two--Ishan Kishan (28) and Rishabh Pant (11) but eventually, a 62-run stand between Suryakumar Yadav and debutant Deepak Hooda was enough for them to win with 22 overs remaining.
Batting first, West Indies did not have any significant partnership which would have propelled them to a competitive total. They did have one, a 78-run stand, when Jason Holder joined forces to rescue his side out of deep waters alongside Fabian Allen. Holder looked to be the best batsman for West Indies as on a pitch where his peers kept losing their wickets regularly, he held his own, started off cautiously and also played his shots to score a fighting 57 off 71 balls with four sixes. But that was not enough as wickets started tumbling again after Fabian Allen's dismissal. Yuzvendra Chahal showed why he was one of the most valued members of this Indian bowling unit in limited-overs cricket with a four-wicket haul and he was assisted well by Washington Sundar, whose left-arm spin fetched him three scalps. Prasidh Krishna took two while Mohammed Siraj had one wicket to his name. Chahal was named Man of the Match.
Let us take a look at some stat highlights of the game:
#India played their 1000th ODI today
#Rohit Sharma scored his 44th ODI fifty
#Virat Kohli completed 5000 ODI runs in India
#Kieron Pollard was dismissed for his 15th duck in ODIs
#Yuzvendra Chahal reached 100 ODI wickets
#Jason Holder scored his 11th ODI fifty
The focus of the series would now shift to the second ODI at the same venue on February 9. India would have KL Rahul return to the team and they would aim to take an unassailable 2-0 lead while West Indies are expected to fight back and remain alive in the series.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 06, 2022 09:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).