India levelled the three-match ODI series against West Indies with a commanding win in Vizag on Wednesday. Men in Blue beat West Indies by a massive margin of 107 runs. With the second match victory, team India brought this series to parity (1-1). India amassed a gigantic target of 387/5 and West Indies could not chase the target, ending up with a big defeat. Indian openers were accused of conservative batting in the previous match. Therefore, this time they rectified the mistakes they made earlier, and stood up to post a well-above-par total.
Milestones achieved in the second match
- The Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has become the 1st Indian bowler to pick up multiple hattricks in international cricket. With this feat, Kuldeep has joined the elite list of bowlers including Lasith Malinga, Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas, Saqlain Mushtaq and Trent Boult. He is also the 4th Indian bowler to claim a hat-trick in 2019.
- Opener KL Rahul slammed his third ODI hundred against WI. He celebrated the moment by closing his eyes and covering his ears with fingers. He said, “Let it stay a mystery”.
- For the first time in history, both the team’s captain got out for a golden duck in ODI. Virat Kohli was caught by Roston Chase, while Kieron Pollard was caught behind by Rishabh Pant.
- Mohammad Shami has taken the most ODI wickets in 2019.
- Rohit Sharma has earned many records to his name:
- He became the first opener to smash ten international centuries in a calendar year.
- Rohit is now the first player to record three 150+ scores in ODI cricket against an opponent.
- He hit the 28th ODI hundred of his career and became the leading run-scorer in ODIs overtaking Virat Kohli.
- He has become the first player to score ODI tons against seven different opponents in a calendar year. He has seven centuries in ODI cricket in 2019.
Indian openers’ sensational tons
Last time, Indian openers to failed to impress the fans, but they turned the tables their side in the second march. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were the batting superstars as they shared a record 227-run partnership from 37 overs. Rohit Sharma, who has been in an exceptional form this year, hit 159 from 138 deliveries including 17 fours and five sixes, guiding India to a triumphant victory. KL Rahul scored his third ODI hundred, and his first at home with 102 off 104. Their superb partnership was followed by unleashing mayhem by Rishabh Pant (39) and Shreyas Iyer (53), who provided fireworks late in the innings.
Game-changing spells by Indian bowlers
The bowling department of Indian team was very impressive. With the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja, the wickets of Windies players were down at regular intervals, producing an empathic win for India. A superb display of fielding by Shreyas Iyer was seen when he dived to run out Hetmyer and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja sent off Roston Chase.
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West Indies failed to maintain their momentum
It was an off-day for West Indies as the team could not retain their winnings ways in this watch. Indian spinners seem to have dominated the pitch, taking them down one by one. While Shai Hope continued to showcase a consistent performance by scoring 78 runs off 85 balls, Hetmyer returned pavilion with 4 runs. Windies hoped to swing their bats well, but Indian bowlers gave them a hard time.
The final series decider match will be conducted on 22 December 2019 in Cuttack at 1:30 pm.
