India Beat West Indies in Style

Throughout the Test series Indian cricket team looked possessed to win, they were very hungry. West Indies on the other hand had looked competitive in the final test but their main concern was regarding their batting collapses. To level out the teams, India had rested many of their senior pros. Captain genius MS Dhoni, God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar and many others were missing from the ODI line up. So India had a young team led by the make shift captain Virender Sehwag. There was a fight on the cards. Many promising players had this one scope to cement their place in the Indian outfit. How did the series go, let’s see.

1^st ODI, Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, November 29, 2011

Umesh Yadav looked impressive and took two wickets

India won the toss in this match and elected to field first. West Indies reached a total of 211 on a pitch which was not too easy to bat on. Darren Bravo (60 off 74) top scored and was supported by Danza Hyatt (31 off 54) and Andre Russell (22 off 20). Two young speedsters Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav took two wickets a piece. Little did they know they will have a crucial role to play with the willow in hand too. India never got going until Rohit Sharma (72 off 99) held the ship with Ravindra Jadeja (38 off 62). Rohit had a crucial partnership with Vinay Kumar (18 off 48) too. But it came down to the last pair to hit the winning runs. India won the match by a narrow margin of 1 wicket. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Man of the Match. So it was an exciting start to the series.

Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja had a match changing partnership

2^nd ODI, ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam, December 2, 2011

Virat Kohli scored a century and was ably supported by Rohit Sharma

Virender Sehwag won the toss yet again and he elected to field too. West Indies put up a competitive total of 269 with contributions from Lendl Simmons (78 off 102), Ravi Rampaul (86 off 66) and Kieron Pollard (35 off 30). Umesh Yadav picked up 3 for 38 for India. India lost Parthiv Patel and Gautam Gambhir early but then started the magnificent partnership between Virat Kohli (117 off 123) and Rohit Sharma (90 off 98). India notched up 270 runs in 48.1 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Virat Kohli notched up his 8^th ton and won the Man of the Match too.

3^rd ODI, Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera, December 5, 2011

Darren Sammy & Andre Russell scored quick runs

Virender won a hattrick of tosses and his decision was the same. West Indies provided a solid batting performance. There were many impressive performances for them. Marlon Samuels (58 off 93), Andre Russell (40 of 18) and Darren Sammy (41 off 17) were the leading contributors. West Indies plundered the Indian bowlers in the end overs. India went off to a bad start with two ducks from Sehwag and Gambhir. Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja also did not last long. It was only the gritty innings of

 Rohit Sharma (95 off 100) and Ravichandran Ashwin (31 off 64) which raised some hopes of victory. But once they were gone the hope faded and India ended at 244 in 46.5 overs. West Indies won the match by 16 runs and Ravi Rampaul got the Man of the Match award for his spell of 4 for 57.

Ravi Rampaul was the MOM with 4 wickets

4^th ODI, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, December 8, 2011

Who knew that this match would go down into the history books! West Indies came into the match full of confidence after beating India in the last match. One of the concerns for India was the lack of form of their captain Virender Sehwag. But did he answer the critics in style. It was Sehwag’s day and he made the most of it (no one has ever done better). He became the highest individual scorer in an ODI innings. He compiled a mammoth 219 of 149 ball slashing and thumping the Windies bowlers to all parts of the park. Other contributors to the Indian cause were Gautam Gambhir (67 off 67) and Suresh Raina (55 off 44). India reached their highest score ever with 418 for 5 in 50 overs. West Indies never really looked to threaten the total. Denesh Ramdin played well for his run a ball 96 runs. West Indies innings ended at 265. India won the match by a massive margin of 153 runs and won the series.

5^th ODI, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, December 11, 2011

Manoj Tiwary celebrates after scoring his maiden ODI ton

Gautam Gambhir started as the skipper for this place and Sehwag was rested. A few new faces were thrown into the Indian team. Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat first. India lost their first two wickets very cheaply and when Gambhir fell the innings was shaky. But in came the duo of Manoj Tiwary and Virat Kohli. Manoj Tiwary who had only found a place in the line up due to absence of so many senior pros proved his point. Playing only his sixth ODI he went on to score a century (104 off 126). Virat Kohli (80 off 85) also aided the youngster in his partnership. India reached 267 for six wickets in their allotted overs. In reply to this total Windies faced early collapse but the innings was held together by a smashing century by Kieron Pollard (119 off 110) and able company of Andre Russell (53 off 42). But West Indies fell short by 34 runs. They ended their innings at 233 in 44.1 overs.

Kieron Pollard scored a century in vain

India would get much confidence from this series victory as it was achieved without most of their frontline players. India venture to Australia next and the form of their players will keep them in good stead. West Indies had very few positive on this dismal tour to India.