Indian spinners leave West Indies entangled in 1st ODI

India welcomed West Indies in rocking fashion as the Indian contingency romped over the visitors with consummate ease. Ever since 2019, the Indian spinners registered their collective best as the spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar picked up seven wickets between them.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first, keeping in mind the turning surface for the series opener. Mohammed Siraj who opened the bowling racked up a maiden over straight away. A notable aspect of an uneventful opening over was the hint of movement that would bloom a smile across the faces of the bowlers.

Prasidh Krishna started his over conceding a boundary but he managed to reel things back in with a decent display over the span of the next five balls. Using the modicum of swing that Siraj emanated in the opening over, he produced an absolute ripper to draw first blood.

The second ball of his second over was crunched to the covers by Hope as Siraj pitched it in the upper region of the good length area. The following ball was condemned to a similar fate as it followed the exact identical trajectory, right since the whiplash release from Siraj’s hand to the ropes, changing direction off Hope’s willow.

If these two deliveries looked like a sign of decadence, the following ball changed them into a menacing trap that Siraj set for Hope. The cherry kissed the deck in the exact same space and angled into him instead of drifting out. The ball caught the low edge of the bat and clattered onto the stumps. Siraj followed it up with another SIU!

If Siraj’s peach was the prelude to madness, the forthcoming spell from Sundar was the overture. Missing out on the South African tour due to Covid, he returned against the touring Caribbean team and was straight down to business. His first ball to King turned out to be the last delivery that the latter would play. King’s attempt to flick against the spin backfired as the resultant ball caught a nick and flew straight into the safe arms of Suryakumar Yadav.

In the same over, he managed to send back Brandon King with a short of length delivery that beat him for pace and the replay showed that it would be straightening enough to kiss the leg-stump in its flight path.

As Siraj and Sundar served the perfect setup, Yuzvendra Chahal hit the crescendo with an insane display starring a couple of swiveling marvels. Chahal’s first victim on the night was Nicholas Pooran as he was beaten by the speed of the skitter. It was relatively straighter and it went through the sweep of the Caribbean biffer.

The following ball proved to be another screamer that left the West Indian skipper gaping at the sheer beauty of it. Bowling the wrong one, he left Pollard bamboozled on his essay to drive. Tempted by the flight he tried to create some room for himself and by the time he could react, the ball angled in at the off-stump returning the reckoning force of Caribbean cricket back for naught.

The visitors simply failed to arrest the downward momentum as Shamrah Brooks and Akeal Hossain slumped down without any major show of resistance. Chahal claimed Brooks while Krishna returned to claim the big wicket of Hossain who set England ablaze with an extraordinary brand of resistance and aggression in the much talked about second T20I.

Despite West Indies crumbling like a pile of dust, their former captain came to the deliverance as he played a fearless knock at the face of a marauding India. He joined forces with a resolute Fabian Allen and ushered the visitors to a respectable total before Washington Sundar returned to strike again.

Prasidh Krishna claimed the much-important wicket of Jason Holder as the solitary warrior for the visitor was undone by the short ball from the expressman and ended up holing out to Pant. Chahal cleaned up the visitors’ tail as Suryakumar Yadav completed a safe take to allow West Indies a total of 176.

With the target being on the lower side, India had ample breathing space. However, their captain, Rohit Sharma had other intentions. He wanted to address India’s tardy approach in the powerplay and was in destructive form as he traded the West Indian bowlers to the ropes with extreme prejudice.

Rohit and Ishan Kishan were off to fiery starts as the Caribbean bowlers scrambled for shelter amongst raining boundaries in Ahmedabad. Rohit took it upon him personally to finish the game swiftly and was well en route to the destination until Alzarri Joseph traded double haymakers to the Indian aspirations.

Much to India’s dismay, Rohit and Virat departed in quick succession with Ishan Kishan following suit with the scoreboard reading 115. Rishabh Pant found himself short of the crease with the ask piling up as India was teetering at 116 for 4.

Despite the fears of another middle-order collapse creeping in, the duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda took matters into their own hands to see India through. The duo was calm and controlled, bringing back India’s chase in the right direction after an alarming slump in the middle.

India secured a comfortable victory in the end with 22 overs to go. There will be a few major areas of concern, however, that India will need to take care of. The middle-order slump still continues with Rishabh Pant missing out on crucial opportunities. The lack of partnerships can be another reason that would intensify India’s frown. However, at the moment it was all cheerful for the hosts.

The two teams will be playing the second ODI on the 9th of February at the same stadium. India will be bolstered by the likes of KL Rahul who will be returning to the national side after completing a personal engagement.