Bridgetown: Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan made his promotion to opening count by top-scoring with 52 as India beat West Indies by five wickets in a one-sided first ODI of the three-match series at Kensington Oval, here on Thursday.
After spinners Kuldeep Yadav (4-6) and Ravindra Jadeja (3-37) combined to take seven wickets between themselves to bundle out West Indies for a paltry 114, Kishan opened the batting and took on the bowlers hit seven fours and a six in his 46-ball 52 as India rejigged their batting order.
Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli sat back as everyone else were given a go with the bat. Rohit did have to come out at number seven to finish off the chase with 160 balls to spare as India got their ninth consecutive win over West Indies.
For West Indies, who had a horror day with the bat, performances from spinners Yannic Cariah (1-35) and Gudakesh Motie (2-26) were the only positives.
Chasing 115, Kishan began with a pulled four off Dominic Drakes, while Shubman Gill was lucky in top-edge on pull flying over keeper for four.
In the fourth over, Gill fell after poking at a fifth stump line ball from Jayden Seales and Brandon King took a good low catch at second slip. Suryakumar Yadav’s promotion to number three began with a trademark glance for four and followed it up with a fine cover drive going for boundary.
Kishan continued to be steady with his check-drives, pulls and flicks even as Suryakumar brought out his famed pick-up whip and sweep for boundaries. After failing in his attempt to sweep off Motie twice, Suryakumar again went for the same shot. But this time, he was trapped lbw by the left-arm spinner who got to straighten the delivery from middle and off, and even burnt a review.
Kishan welcomed Cariah with a chip over mid-off and cut past point for a brace of fours. Though Hardik Pandya was run-out after Cariah deflected the ball to non-striker’s end, Kishan continued to make merry — dancing down the pitch to slog the leg-spinner over deep mid-wicket for six and smashed Motie over his head for four more.
After a brace off Athanaze took him to his fourth ODI fifty, Kishan fell immediately, holing out to deep mid-wicket off Motie. In the next over, Shardul Thakur fell after dabbing straight to second slip off Cariah.
Rohit Sharma, coming in at number seven, and Ravindra Jadeja ensured India went over the line, with the skipper sweeping Motie to finish off the chase in style and seal an easy win for the visitors’.
Brief Scores: West Indies 114 in 23 overs (Shai Hope 43, Alick Athanaze 22; Kuldeep Yadav 4-6, Ravindra Jadeja 3-37) lost to India (Ishan Kishan 52; Gudakesh Motie 2-26, Yannic Cariah 1-35) by five wickets.
–IANS
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