Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill headline charge as India humble West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram runfest

Thiruvananthapuram played witness to new records, rewritten history and Virat Kohli effusively penning his own code of dominance as India blew away West Indies in the ODI series opener, sealing a comfortable 8-wicket win.  

In what was a runfest, West Indies got off to a great start, but for the Indian bowlers to pull things back before they allowed late control to the visitors, with the islanders putting up 295/7 from their 50 overs.

However, the Indian batters never really looked off their element as they shot down the stipulated total with 50 balls to spare.

Winning the toss, Shubman Gill opted to bowl first. Naman Dhir was handed his ODI debut. West Indies got off to a roaring start as John Campbell (62) and Justin Greaves regulated the charge in convincing fashion. The two added 135 runs for the opening stand as the Indian bowlers failed to find an opening for a significant while.

It was eventually in the 20th over after taking quite a beating that Kuldeep Yadav managed to find a breakthrough. He got rid of Campbell as Prasidh Krishna took a fine grab at short fine. The fall of Campbell opened up a window of opportunity for the hosts. Despite Greaves smashing the ball into every single nook and cranny of the park, Keacy Carty (13) struggled to get going and eventually fell to Prasidh.

Kuldeep Yadav dealt a double whammy in quick succession to get the better of Shai Hope (12) and the big scalp of Greaves.

Greaves smashed an excellent century, eventually succumbing to Kuldeep’s mystery for 101. Yadav was relentless as he sent Jewel Andrew packing for a golden duck. Just when it felt like India might roll over West Indies for something less than 250, Roston Chase and Amir Jangoo offered firm resistance.

The two added 52 runs for the sixth wicket as Chase racked up 24 runs while Jangoo stayed unbeaten for 58. West Indies concluded their innings at a formidable 295/7. Kuldeep Yadav registered figures of 10-1-40-4 to lead the Indian pack.

On a surface where bowlers struggled to find their foothold, India came out slashing, smashing and dashing as West Indies got atomized to smithereens. Rohit Sharma (32) and Shubman Gill got off to a rollicking start. The two openers scored at a rate of almost seven runs an over, adding 74 from just 11 overs.

Alzarri Joseph put an end to the partnership as Rohit’s miscued pull went straight to Jewel Andrew at square leg. But that did very little to dissuade India from their path of rampage as an incoming Virat Kohli started exactly from where Rohit left.

Kohli scaled Mount 15000, joining one of the elitest clubs in international cricket. Virat needed 59 runs to cross the magic figure of 15000 ODI runs and he did so without breaking a sweat. In fact, he did it from 303 innings and 15950 balls vis-à-vis Sachin Tendulkar’s feat of 377 innings and 17528 balls.

Soon after Kohli climbed another impressive peak, sharing it with the iconic Sachin Tendulkar, Shubman Gill brought up his second century as the Indian captain. He drilled Jayden Seales past mid-off to bring up his 10th ton in ODIs, also his first against West Indies.

Gill fell for an extraordinary knock of 110 from 108 balls, smashing 13 fours and a six. The two added 151 runs for the second wicket as India ran away with the game. However, once Gill departed, Kohli decided to switch gears and came out all blasters blazing.

Kohli brought up both his half-century and his ton in similar fashion, rocking the bowlers to the fence. He smacked Alzarri Joseph down the ground for a maximum to bring up his fifty from just 40 balls. He hammered his 55th ODI century with a six against Gudakesh Motie, dancing down the ground and hammering him out of the park.

The Chasemaster simply unleashed the beast in him after getting to three figures, smashing 39 runs off the last 14 balls that he faced. India chased down the total in just 41.4 overs. Kohli stayed unbeaten for 139 from just 88 balls, hammering 10 fours and nine sixes at a strike rate of 157.95. India won the game by eight wickets to go 1-0 up in the series. Kuldeep Yadav bagged the Player of the Match award for his stellar bowling figures.