During the five-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, India totally dominated the game. Except for Shai Hope, none of the West Indies batters put up a fight as the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, who took seven wickets between them, bowled out the hosts for 114 in just 23 overs. India brought down the mark in one less ball, with Ishan Kishan rising to the occasion with his fourth ODI half-century.
During the first innings of the first ODI of the three-game series, Virat Kohli performed a moment of utter brilliance that stunned even his colleagues. It happened barely a delivery after Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Rovman Powell for four in the 18th over. With the ball twisting and Jadeja challenging the outside edge, India captain Rohit Sharma convinced Kohli to replace Shubman Gill in the slip position.
Watch: Virat Kohli’s one-handed catch
Jadeja then delivered a bigger delivery outside off as Windies batter Romario Shepherd advanced to force it through the offside but was met with a heavy outside edge. Kohli then showed quick reflexes by diving to his right and grabbing the ball with one hand only inches above the ground. Shepherd stood there for a while, trying to comprehend what had just occurred as he walked back in disappointment after suffering a two-ball duck to send the home team six down in the 18th over. Meanwhile, Gill was completely taken aback by Kohli’s performance.
Kohli did not bat, though, since he and Rohit chose to give others a chance in India’s 115-run chase. As a result, Ishan started with Gill, followed by Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jadeja, and Shardul Thakur. But, with the exception of Ishan, none of the others made an impression, forcing Rohit to bat at No.7 for the first time since his India debut.
“We wanted to give game time to the ODI guys who have come in, we will keep trying those things whenever possible. To restrict them to 115, we knew we could try these guys and give them a go. I don’t think they’ll get many chances like this. I made my debut for India and was batting at number 7, reminded me of those days,” the India skipper later explained.
Also read: INDvsWI 1st ODI: India win 9th ODI in a row against West Indies to break multiple records
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