50 overs India 387 for 5 (Rohit 159, Rahul 102, Iyer 53, Pant 39) v West Indies
India got a glimpse of what their crazily talented batting unit can achieve when they went all out to give their under-pressure bowling a total to defend in the dew in a must-win match. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul scored hundreds in a 37-over partnership, followed by mayhem unleashed by Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the last 10 overs. In the end, India had a total of 387 at a ground where West Indies tied a chase of 321 last year.
Sharma fell for 159 in the 44th over, his eighth score of 150 or more, which was an improvement on the record he already holds, but the headline at that moment was that he had fallen short of a fourth double, which would have been an improvement on another record he already holds. By the end of it, West Indies would have hoped Sharma had got his double because his replacement Pant took the carnage to another level. Pant’s 19-ball 36 forced West Indies to go for the offspin of Roston Chase; a reputed power hitter against spin, Iyer cashed in with 53 off 32. The two added 73 in four overs.
A pleasing sign for the team management will be that it wasn’t just the youngsters batting to their murderous potential. Rahul and Sharma began the attempts to increase the scoring rate 21st over onwards. The start had been good in flat conditions with Rahul not letting India feel the pinch of a slightly but typically slow Sharma start. India were 98 in 20 overs, an old recipe for a seemingly effortless score of 320-330 for India. Soon they showed they were not going to be happy with that.
In the next five overs, India took 47 runs, with Sharma helping himself to five fours and Rahul to four. West Indies were desperate for a quiet spell of play for which you need a wicket so that you can tie the new man in. That opportunity came when Sharma threw his bat at Chase in the 28th over, but Shimron Hetmyer dropped the catch running in from long-off. Soon Sharma hit another gear while Rahul could cruise towards his hundred at a run a ball.
There was all kinds of crazy hitting happening now: straight hits, hits over cover, using the pace to dunk balls over short fine leg. It was in the 37th over that Alzarri Joseph managed to get rid of Rahul. Kieron Pollard managed to follow it up with a golden duck for Virat Kohli. And yet it failed to produce that slow spell.
Sharma went on with his hitting at will while Iyer scored at a run a ball. The first signs of fatigue showed in the 43rd over. He had scored 55 off 29 after reaching hundred. Against the left-arm spin of Khary Pierre, though, he swung and missed a bit, and that brought about his dismissal in the next over.
West Indies were hoping for a slowdown to carry some momentum into the chase, but they also had two of India’s strongest power hitters to contend with. Pant played havoc with West Indies’ bowler of the tour, Sheldon Cottrell. His two sixes over the off side – his less-favoured flank – off Joseph made Cottrell go straight but with similar results. A 24-run over from Cottrell brought Chase on, whom Iyer hit for four sixes and a four. At 217, this was the third-highest toll India had taken of the last 20 overs in an ODI innings. (ESPNCricinfo)
