Rohitrayudu duo knock the wind out of West Indies’ sails

The two score centuries to take India to mammoth 377 before bowlers dismiss visitors for 153

MUMBAI: During the 70s, the famous catchphrase in world cricket was—‘if Lillee doesn’t get you, Thommo will’, referring to the domination of two Australian great fast bowlers, Denis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

Cut to the present and it would not be an exaggeration to say ‘if Kohli doesn’t get you, Rohit will’ while describing the dominance of these two Indian batsmen in the 50-over format in recent years. Since January 2013, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have slammed 25 and 19 ODI centuries respectively and occupy the first two spots on the list of most number of ODI hundreds during this period.

On Monday, when West Indies got rid of Kohli cheaply for only 16, they would have heaved a huge sigh of relief. However, local boy Rohit ensured the visitors’ joy was short-lived as he put on display another stellar exhibition

of clean hitting on his way to a 137-ball 162, which powered India to a massive 377/5 in the fourth ODI at the Brabourne Stadium here.

The mammoth total, in the end, proved enough for India to

record a massive 224–run victory and take an unassailable 2-1 lead with the fifth and final match of the series to be played in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.

During his swashbuckling knock that featured 20 fours and four maximums, Rohit broke a number of records. The 31-yearold surpassed Sachin Tendulkar, who had earlier rung the bell to inaugurate the match, to become the fourth fastest to reach 21 ODI hundreds. Tendulkar had taken 200 innings to compile 21 tons while Rohit took only 186.

Ambati Rayudu (100, 81b) too batted with nonchalant ease to bring up his third ODI hundred. With Rohit, he added 211 runs for the third wicket to put India on course for a big total.

The West Indian batting was quite impressive in the first three matches, but the pressure of chasing 378 took a toll on them as they lost wickets regularly and never looked like getting anywhere close to the Indian total. The West Indies suffered a body blow when their most prolific batsman on the tour, Shai Hope, was run out by Kuldeep Yadav while attempting a nonexistent single.

In-form Shimron Hetmyer, who has been the find of the tour, played a couple of delightful shots before being trapped in front by young pacer Khaleel Ahmed. Ahmed then castled Rovman Powell with a beauty to leave West Indies reeling at 47 for 5 in the 12th over.

From there, it was only a formality as the visitors were rolled over for a paltry 153 in 36.2 overs.