India beat West Indies by 59 runs in the fourth ODI to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series on Friday.
Chasing India’s 330, Windies began with Bravo and Smith, with the latter falling in the second over, taken by Yadav for 0. Pollard joined him in the middle, taking the score to 26/1 in 10 overs. Pollard however fell quickly, in the 11th over, taken by Kumar for 6.
Samuels was the next man in and the duo took the score to 48/2 in 15 overs. The 17th over saw Bravo slamming three boundaries, easing off the pressure a little bit. Bravo fell in the 21st over, dismissed by Patel for a well-made 40, bringing Ramdin into the middle. At the end of 25 overs, Windies were on 95/3. In the very next over, Samuels clobbered jadeja for 2 fours and 6 sixes, bringing down the asking rate just a notch.
Ramdin was the next casualty, deceived by Jadeja for 9. Bravo fell in the same over for 0, reducing the score to 122/5 at the end of the 28th over. Sammy and Samuels got together bringing on the big ones, and taking the score to 165/5 in 35 overs. In the very next over, Sammy departed for 16, done in by Patel.
Russell joined Samuels and they took the score to 211/6, but Russell fell in the 41st over, bringing the score to 223/7. Holder was the next man to depart for 11, taken by Kumar in the 44th over, Taylor falling in the 47th for 11 taken by Shami, to reduce to score to 262/9. Samuels was trying hard at the other end, but he was the last one to depart after a well-made century, taken by Shami for 112, wrapping their innings 271.
Earlier, West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first. Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan made their way into the middle to open the innings for the Indian side. They proceeded pretty cautiously for the first 5 overs, scoring a stray boundary here and there, reaching 20/0. The 6th over saw Dhawan get into the aggressive mode and smash 1 six and 2 boundaries.
From there on, it started raining big ones, with the Indians quickly reaching 65/0 in 10 overs. The first breakthrough for the visitors came in the 12th over in the form of Dhawan’s wicket, which was taken by Russell for 35.
Virat Kohli joined Rahane and the duo took the score to 83/1 in 15 overs. The next 5 overs were fended off in a very cautious fashion, devoid of boundaries or sixes. At the end of 20 overs, the score was 106/1. Just when the duo was finding its foot, Rahane departed in the 27th over dismissed by Benn for a very well made 68 off 79 deliveries.
Raina and Kohli now teamed up to rescue the team from crisis. At the 35th over, the Indians had scored 184/2. They were keeping the run rate going by smashing one boundary or six every over and then rotating the strike to play some really smart cricket. At the end of the 40th over, India’s score was 236/2. The 42nd over saw Raina come out in his true colours. First, short ball, smashed in front of the midwicket. Gone. Second ball, short one again, slog shot. Gone farther for a six. Fourth ball, slow short, this time Kohli dispatched it to the midwicket boundary. Next ball, same treatment. This Bravo over yielded 19 runs.
The blossoming partnership was broken by Taylor in the 45th over, when Raina was done in for 71 off 58 deliveries. The score was 281/3. MS Dhoni came in and played a blink-and-miss innings, much to the relief of the West Indian camp Jadeja too, followed suit. Kohli, on the other hand, brought up his century and was on full-blast mode. He was run out on the last ball for 127, wrapping the Indian innings at 330/6.