India look to carry on momentum

Dhawan, Rahane’s partnership comes to nought as first match is abandoned

India, who dominated with the bat in the rain-affected first One Day International (ODI) match, will look to carry forward their momentum when they take on the West Indies in the second match at the Queen’s Park Oval here today.

Put in to bat, India made a good start with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane putting up a 132-run partnership. But their efforts went in vain as rain played spoilsport with the match being abandoned.

With the sky likely to be overcast during today’s match also, both the teams will look to play more attacking cricket from the outset to offset the Duckworth-Lewis method of setting a target.

In the last match, the visitors opted for the strategy of starting slow and keeping wickets in hand for the last. India only managed to score 199/3 in 40 overs before the skies opened up. Because of this, the hosts were given a revised target of 194 runs to chase in 26 overs — a not impossible task.

Apart from the openers, skipper Virat Kohli also clicked after a poor show in the summit clash of the Champions Trophy and will

India

A. Rahane c Holder b Joseph S. Dhawan lbw Bishoo V. Kohli not out Y. Singh c Lewis b Joseph M.S. Dhoni not out (w5) (3 wkts, 39.2 overs) 199 1-132 (Rahane), 2-168 (Dhawan), 3-185 (Yuvraj) K. Jadav, H. Pandya, R. Ashwin, K. Yadav, B. Kumar, U. Yadav J. Holder 8-0-34-1 (1w), A. Joseph 8-0-53-1 (1w), A. Nurse 4-122-0, M. Cummins 8-0-46-0 (2w), D. Bishoo 10-0-39-0, J. Carter 1.2-0-5-0 West Indies Joel Wilson (TRI), Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) David Boon (AUS)

Extras Total Fall of wickets:

Did not bat: Bowling: Toss: Umpires:

62 87 32 4 9 5

Match Referee: (Match abandoned due to rains)

look to continue playing with the same momentum. But Yuvraj Singh’s patchy form will be a concern for the Indian skipper while going to the second ODI.

The bowling department, which consists of pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, alongside spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav will be hoping for a rain-free day so that they get to flex their muscles in front of an inexperienced batting line-up.

The West Indies batting lineup with the likes of Evin Lewis (15 ODIs), Kieran Powell (38 ODIs), Shai Hope (14 ODIs) and Jason Mohammed (12 ODIs) may find it difficult to resist the formidable Indian bowling.