India ride high on their spinning duo to surge ahead in the three-match ODI series against West Indies

What was supposed to be a lopsided affair at the start of the second innings would soon change complexion to intensify the frowns on the Indian faces before they could eventually come home against a technically undercooked West Indies, who staged a strong counterblast through their spinning duo of Gudakesh Motie and Yanick Cariah to send India hobbling across the finish line.

Winning the toss, India opted to field first and with Mohammed Siraj out of the series, they chose to hand over a debut to Mukesh Kumar who was sensational in that opening spell of play. Hardik Pandya opened the bowling for India and despite a few loose deliveries up front, he would soon come back with that stock ball of his where Kyle Mayers’ attempt to pull him would end up in the safe hands of Rohit Sharma at mid-on.

Alick Athanaze seemed in good touch during his stay but a flying stunner by Ravindra Jadeja at point off Mukesh’s bowling rattled the partnership of 38 runs that the former knitted together with Brandon King. Moments within the fall of Athanaze, King would also take the long walk back to the pavilion as Shardul Thakur raged through his defences with an absolute stunner.

Despite losing the cream of their batting for a modest 45, two of West Indies’ most experienced campaigners, Shimron Hetmyer and their skipper, Shai Hope, started navigating through the choppy waters before finally bringing out the canons that saw West Indies getting back in shape. With a stand of 43 runs for the fourth wicket, just when it felt that Hetmyer was planning to flip the tide around, Ravindra Jadeja tricked him as the ball raged past his blade to the timber.

The fall of Hetmyer triggered an immediate collapse as West Indies entered into an endless vortex of chaos. Ravindra Jadeja struck for a second time in very quick succession as Shubman Gill pulled off a sharp catch at first slip, removing the dangerous Rovman Powell. Another hard-hitter in the shape of Romario Shepherd fell to the instinctive brilliance and razor-sharp reflexes of Virat Kohli, who plucked an absolute pearler, diving to his right at second slip.

If Jadeja’s bowling form wasn’t ominous enough for the Islanders, the introduction of Kuldeep Yadav arrived as double trouble for the hosts. A rare option in the Indian ranks, Kuldeep was quick to spot the assistance that the track had to offer as he ran through the tail of West Indies, claiming the important scalps of Dominic Drakes, Cariah, Hope and Jayden Seales to pull the curtains on a lacklustre display, finishing with figures of 4/6. Hope was the solitary beacon of hope for the West Indies as he carved a well-fought 43.

To the surprise of the fans and experts alike, India had a major change in their batting line-up as Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan opened the batting for India. Despite the initial discomfort, Kishan started getting in the groove while Gill was barely scraping by.

It didn’t take long for West Indies to comprehend Gill’s wobble in the centre as Jayden Seales drew first blood for the hosts. Despite the fall of Gill, an incoming Suryakumar Yadav looked good for his limited stay as he paired alongside Kishan for a partnership of 36 that saw India taking over control.

However, SKY fell while attempting the sweep against Gudakesh Motie, as the latter was quick through the air with a delivery that beat the batsman’s sweep attempt and crashed into his pads. 

Hardik Pandya couldn’t contribute much as he savoured a couple of lifelines during his sojourn in the center before eventually running out of luck. Kishan’s powerful strike was dropped by Yannic Cariah, only to be redirected towards the stumps at the non-striker’s end as Pandya’s bat bounced up in the air and the ball hit the stumps to run the all-rounder out.

An incoming Ravindra Jadeja seemed in complete control as he barely wanted to take on the bowlers while Kishan dictated the shots with extraordinary control to score his fourth half-century in ODIs. However, a sudden urge to double that strike rate cost him dearly as a miscued effort from the toe-end of his bat off Motie’s bowling flew into the safe hands of Powell.

Shardul Thakur’s arrival in the center wasn’t exactly grandiloquent as he got out to a poor shot but the Indian skipper ensured that there were no more pitfalls for India in what transpired into a tricky chase. Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja sealed the bragging rights as India eventually secured victory by five wickets.