India thrashed the West Indies by 125 runs to continue their unbeaten run and knock the two-time former champions out of the ICC World Cup at Old Trafford on Thursday. The fifth successive win also the took the Men in Blue to second in the points table behind Australia and inched them closer to the semifinal berth. Onmanorama picks five reasons for India’s thumping win over the Caribbeans.
Top order does the job
After Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat on a used surface, the West Indies knew they had to make the new-ball count. However, the Windies new-ball pair of Sheldon Cottrell and Kemar Roach could pick up only one wicket, that of Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma (18) in the early part of the innings. Opener K L Rahul (48) and Kohli steadied the Indian innings with a second-wicket stand of 69 runs.
Kohli continues fine run
The Indian skipper produced his fourth successive fifty of the competition and held the innings together with a fine 72. Kohli, who became the fastest to reach 20,000 international runs during the course of his knock, made sure India were on track for a competitive total on a slow track despite Roach packing off Vijay Shankar (14) and Kedar Jadhav (7) in quick succession. He was the dominant partner in the 40-run stand with M S Dhoni for the fifth wicket and took the pressure of the former Indian captain.
Dhoni, Pandya turn it on
India were in a spot of bother when Kohli fell with the total reading 180/5 in the 39th over. However, the under-fire Dhoni and Hardik Pandya put on 70 vital runs off 10 overs and took India to the 250-run mark. The two ran hard between the wickets and picked up the odd boundary as India regained control of the match. Pandya made 46 off 38 balls, while Dhoni smashed Oshane Thomas for a couple of sixes and a boundary in the final over to take India to 268/7. Dhoni, who made the most of an early reprieve, remained unbeaten on 56 off 61 balls.
Shami’s early strikes
The West Indies needed to get off to a solid start in their pursuit of 269. But Mohammed Shami had other ideas. The Indian pacer continued from where he left off against Afghanistan and send back the dangerous Chris Gayle (6) and the mainstay of the West Indian batting Shai Hope (5) to push the Caribbeans on the back foot. Shami, who bowled with great control and generated good pace, was supported well at the other end by Jasprit Bumrah.
Wickets fall like ninepins
After the early setbacks, it was always going to be tough for the West Indian batsman against India’s varied attack. Though Sunil Ambris (31) and Nicholas Pooran (28) defied the Indian bowlers for a brief period, once Pandya provided the breakthrough by trapping Ambris in front of the wicket it was all over for the Caribbeans. The West Indies lost seven wickets for a mere 53 runs as they slipped from 71/2 to 124/9 by the 30th over. Yuzvendra Chahal picked up a couple of wickets, while his spin partner Kuldeep Yadav scalped one as the Windies lost their way. Bumrah picked up two in two, while Shami dismissed last-man Thomas with a bouncer to bowl out the Windies for 143. Shami (4/16) registered his second successive four-wicket haul and completed the demolition job.
