In top gear, from start to finish
POWER PACKED Sharma and Rahul laid the foundations for a mammoth total before Iyer and Pant’s assault
VISAKHAPATNAM:India rode on the back of fluent centuries from their openers before a coordinated rampage by Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer derailed West Indies’ plans to win their first bilateral ODI series in India since 2002.
Set 388 to win the second Oneday International and win the three-match series here on Wednesday, West Indies need some heroic batting from the top-order that had bulldozed a 288-run target in Chennai in the first ODI.
Lessons learned, India’s batting took no chance as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul laid the foundation with a 227-run opening partnership before Iyer and Pant’s brutal assault completely dismantled any confidence West Indies had carried here from Chennai.
Perhaps no team knows better the art of pacing a one-day innings than India, especially on featherbeds. When they get going, it’s almost impossible to plug the flow of runs. Still, this was a pitch where the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat easily.
Some caution was in order when Sharma and Rahul took their guard. They had time, plenty of it, and it showed in their batting.
Proper cricket shots were used to clear the infield. And once the opening pair had gotten a feel of both the pitch and the bowling, they slipped into attack mode. India reached 50 in 58 balls, 100 in 121 balls and 150 in 153 balls.
NO STOPPING INDIA
Once the 200-run mark was breached in 203 deliveries, there was no stopping India. Rahul got to his second century and Sharma his 27th. They followed different routes to their centuries.
Rahul slowed down as he approached his, completing his 100 in 102 balls after having used the first 46 balls to reach his fifty. Sharma, on the other hand, kept improving his scoring rate, taking 67 balls to reach his first fifty, 40 for the second fifty and 25 balls for the third.
West Indies should have seen it coming when Sharma hit a wall quite early in his innings. The balls flew off the bat’s sweet spot but went straight to the fielders for a while. That period saw Sharma consume 12 deliveries to move from 40 to 41. But with that single, Sharma found his groove.
Rahul was scintillating from early on in his innings, shots flowing from his bat on either side of the wicket. It was Rahul who got the move on by cracking two boundaries through cover and backward point off Sheldon Cottrell in the fifth over.
In the 21st over, Alzarri Joseph was guilty of bowling at his legs, prompting Rahul to whip it towards midwicket for a boundary.
Joseph tried the same length the next ball, only on the off-side but Rahul crunched that behind point for another four. The first ball of the next over from Keemo Paul met with a similar fate, Rahul swatting a wide delivery for a boundary through point. India had found their next gear. West Indies were losing steam and India building theirs.
Rahul was swinging hard when he wasn’t trying to use pace to run the ball down towards third man.
He got one past short third man before getting a meaty edge—trying to slash Paul over point—that flew wide of wicketkeeper Hope for another boundary.
SHARMA DROPPED
When Sharma was dropped on 70—Shimron Hetmyer flooring the catch after running in from long-off—West Indies must have known that the game was slipping out of their hands.
Sharma scored the next 30 runs off 22 deliveries as he launched into the offensive West Indies were dreading. A four and a six off left-arm spinner Khary Pierre got Sharma to 97 before he ticked off the next three in singles.
By then, Rahul had fallen back a bit. But he got to his century with a boundary and followed it up with an elaborate celebration befitting a person who has been in and out of the team.
Virat Kohli sat in the dressing room in his batting gear for 37 overs and stayed in the middle for just a single delivery.
Two quick wickets snapped the buzz inside the stadium but Pant and Iyer lifted the brief gloom with a carnage so devastating it would have made Kieron Pollard regret coming up with a plan to dismiss Kohli. Pant’s blitz lasted just 16 balls, but he got 39 runs off them.
Cottrell copped the bulk of that hiding, leaking 24 runs in the 46th over as Pant smoked three boundaries and two sixes, solely relying on his hand-eye coordination.
The finishing touches were provided by Iyer when he tore into Roston Chase’s gentle offspin, hitting four sixes and two boundaries in a 31-run over that helped him canter to his fourth consecutive fifty.
TWO QUICK WICKETS SNAPPED THE BUZZ BUT PANT AND IYER LIFTED THE BRIEF GLOOM WITH A CARNAGE SO DEVASTATING IT WOULD HAVE MADE KIERON POLLARD REGRET COMING UP WITH A PLAN TO DISMISS KOHLI