India 310 for 5 (Rahane 103, Kohli 87, Dhawan 63) v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ajinkya Rahane stroked his way to a third ODI century off 102 balls © AFP
Fifty overs. Forty-three overs. It doesn’t quite matter. India are a machinery designed to score 300 and not too many more when batting first. In rainy Port of Spain, they recalibrated themselves to set up to score 300 again after the start of the match was delayed by two hours. Ajinkya Rahane got to his third century – the period approaching his hundred was the only slow spell in India’s innings, Shikhar Dhawan’s run continued with yet another half-century, and Virat Kohli knocked off an effortless 87 off 66.
When West Indies put India in, they wanted to exploit the damp pitch and overcast conditions, but their new-ball bowlers never got the length right. They were either too short or too full, getting cut and pulled or driven with ease. There was also more intent from the India openers, who as a partnership have the best average among all pairs who have added at least 1500 runs together. Rahane got going with an upper-cut for a six, and Dhawan loved the driving practice given to him, off-driving Jason Holder for successive boundaries before pulling him for one more in the eighth over. India’s 63 in the first 10 overs was about 14 more than what has been their average since the 2015 World Cup.
The busy scoring continued, especially given that Devendra Bishoo, who bowled well in the first match, failed to get his length right. In Bishoo’s third over, Rahane picked two boundaries to get into the 40s. He lost Dhawan immediately, stumped off the offspin of Ashley Nurse for 63 off 59, but took over the dominant role as Kohli settled down. As in the first match, this was atypical of Rahane, who usually slows down after a quick start against the hard new ball. Here, as on Friday, he accelerated gradually after a sedate start.
From 36 off 45, Rahane scored the next 50 runs in 40 balls, but slowed down near the hundred. The nerves were understandable. Here is a Test shoo-in who has struggled to cement a place in ODIs because he has failed to convert those quick starts on a regular basis. With KL Rahul nearing fitness, this chance, which has come through the rest given to Rohit Sharma, could be his last. You can understand Rahane wanted to grab it. He risked a run-out, he edged a cut, and the next 11 runs took 16 balls. He then laced a cover drive to bring up the hundred, but fell immediately after, looking to slog.
Kohli, though, didn’t let the wickets slow India down. You could see he was struggling for power a little because of the high humidity, which is perhaps why there was an extra effort to set that solid base and concentrate on the swing of the bat and not the power. He didn’t over-hit any of his four sixes, but ended up under-hitting an Alzarri Joseph slower ball in the penultimate over of the innings.
If there were any doubts to India getting the 300, Holder put paid to them by bowling three beamers and a foot-fault no-ball in his last two overs. The extra deliveries and runs took India over, making it 99 runs in the last nine overs.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo