India seal series win over Windies
Third seamer Khaleel has been outstanding, and number four as well, Rayudu, taking responsibility
Virat Kohli
thiruvananthapuram — Ravindra Jadeja starred in India’s ninewicket series clinching win over West Indies after the tourists were skittled out for just 104 in the fifth one-day international on Thursday.
West Indies won the toss and elected to bat in Thiruvananthapuram but collapsed, surviving just 31.5 of their 50 overs under overcast skies to register their lowest ODI total against India.
Jadeja claimed four wickets with his left-arm spin as India romped to their target in 14.5 overs to take the five-match series 3-1.
The second game was a tie.
It is India’s sixth successive ODI series win on home soil.
Opener Rohit Sharma, who smashed 63, and skipper Virat Kohli, who made 33, put on an unbeaten 99-run stand as the hosts raced to their target before the sun had set in the daynight game.
“Third seamer Khaleel (Ahmed) has been outstanding, and number four as well, (Ambati) Rayudu, taking responsibility,” Kohli said when asked what the skipper learned from the series ahead of the 2019 World Cup. “God forbid, if anything happens to Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) or (Jasprit) Bumrah, we have another guy who can come in and pick up wickets. We just want these guys to build on this.”
The lanky Ahmed, who made his debut against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup in September, has taken 11 wickets in his six ODIs for India so far. The batting spot at number four was troubling India for long with Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Lokesh Rahul and Dinesh Karthik not meeting the bar at the crucial position.
It was a relief for Kohli when the 33-year-old Rayudu, who has played 45 ODI matches, came good with a fifty and a hundred in the series. “Rayudu of course, grabbing his opportunities, batting with maturity, batting with composure. So it’s always good to plug in the areas you are looking at,” Kohli told reporters. “Having a left-arm seamer in the side gives you varia- tion in the attack and Khaleel was really good. So these two have been the takeaway from the series.”
Fast bowler Oshane Thomas bowled opener Shikhar Dhawan for six but the wicket proved just a hiccup in India’s march towards an easy win. Jadeja set up the convincing victory after returning figures of 4-34 from his 9.5 overs.
Jadeja, who was named man of the match, polished off the West Indies’ tail and India did not need the customary break after end of the first innings to get past their target.
Kohli was the man of the series for his 453 runs in five matches including three centuries and a highest score of 157 not out.
The prolific run-getter became the quickest to 10,000 ODI runs in his 205th innings in Visakhapatnam ODI that ended in a tie last week. “To get runs as captain always gives me confidence. It won’t happen all the time, but when I’m going, I want to keep going longer,” said Kohli.