Match report: West Indies v India - 2nd ODI
First Published : 09 Jun 2011, 14:31
Last Modified : 30 Nov 2011, 09:01
Trinidad, June 8: Virat Kohli scored 81 and Amit Mishra picked up four wickets as India beat West Indies in the second ODI played at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain. After Mishra’s four-wicket haul helped restrict the hosts to a modest score of 240, Kohli’s heroics helped the visitors chase down a Duckworth/Lewis target in a game marred by rain.
India began their run chase losin Shikhar Dhawan (3) in just the third over of the innings, the southpaw cutting a Ravi Rampaul delivery straight to Kieron Pollard at point. However, there were no further inroads made by the hosts immediately thereafter as Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli set India on course in a spirited second wicket stand.
The two added 92 for the second wicket before play was brought to a halt at the end of the 22nd over due to rain. Although the game had been interrupted by the weather even earlier, at the end of the 13th over for a brief period, it was the long stoppage at the end of the 22nd over that saw India set a revised target of 183 in 37 overs. That left India needing 83 from the remaining 15 overs with nine wickets in hand.
Reacting to the revised target, Kohli immediately upped the scoring rate. Where his first 50 runs came off 78 deliveries, his last 31 came in just 25 balls. And although India lost both Patel (56) and Kohli during the course of the chase, Suresh Raina (26* off 32) and Rohit Sharma (7) took India home to secure a seven-wicket victory with 20 balls to spare. The win also gives India a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.
Earlier, it was India captain Suresh Raina who won the toss for the first time on this tour and opted to field first. India played an unchanged side from the first ODI. West Indies, meanwhile, brought in Kieron Pollard for Darren Bravo in their playing eleven.
The West Indies batting had come in for much criticism in this series. Today, though, they began well. Lendl Simmons and Kirk Edwards raised the 50-run mark in the 12th over with Edwards playing at nearly a run-a-ball. However, a beautiful legbreak delivery from Amit Mishra had Edwards (25) edge the ball to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. India had its first breakthrough with the West Indies score at 57.
Simmons, who had played a rash shot to get out in the first ODI, appeared to have learnt his lesson and played a grinding innings today. He scored 53 off 84 balls before getting stumped by Patel off Yusuf Pathan’s bowling. Still, at 124 for two in 26.5 overs, the game was very much in favour of the hosts.
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels then produced yet another half-century partnership to consolidate the West Indies’ position. But when Samuels (36 off 32), too, was stumped by Patel off Pathan, India came roaring back into the game. Like in the first ODI, the hosts lost a flurry of wickets to negate the good work done at the start of the innings.
Sarwan (56) fell to Patel shortly after making his second half-century of the tour while Mishra trapped the dangerous Pollard (0) lbw off just the third delivery the batsman faced. The Indian legspinner further added to the hosts’ misery by dismissing Dwayne Bravo (8) and Carlton Baugh (2) off consecutive deliveries in the 44th over.
From a commanding position of 192 for three in 40 overs, the hosts slumped to 240 for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs. Captain Darren Sammy remained unbeaten with a 19-ball 22 that prevented the hosts from imploding entirely.
For India, Munaf Patel complemented Mishra’s effort by taking three for 35 from his 10 overs.
Brief scores: India 183/3 in 33.4 overs (Virat Kohli 81, Parthiv Patel 56, Anthony Martin 1/29)beat West Indies 240/9 in 50.0 overs (Ramnaresh Sarwan 56, Lendl Simmons 53, Amit Mishra 4/31, Munaf Patel 3/35) by seven wickets under D/L method.
Man-of-the-match: Virat Kohli for his spirited innings of 81 [103 balls, 6x4, 1x6] that set up a seven-wicket win for India.
