THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Selective amnesia. That was the word Nic Pothas, West Indies fielding coach, used when a question on fielding lapses was hurled at him during the pre-match conference on the eve of the fifth and vital ODI at Sports Hub in Thiruvananthapuram.“The thing is to have selective amnesia and come back stronger,” Pothas had said referring to the need for forgetting bad patches and bouncing back from setbacks. After Thursday’s hammering, selective amnesia is something the visitors would badly need to be back on their feet at the earliest.
Opting to bat on a pitch that had not seen much action, the West Indies seemed to have placed more trust on their batsmen than bowlers. It was a misjudgement that soon blew up in their face. Their innings lasted only 31.5 overs and the match was over in less than 46, after the visitors were shunted out for 104.
Off the fourth delivery of the match, Kieran Powell nicked one from Bhuvneshwar Kumar which was going away and MS Dhoni did the rest. Before they recovered from this, the in-form Shai Hope was gone dragging Jasprit Bumrah’s rising delivery on to his stumps.
Veteran Marlon Samuels showed some intent and played a couple of forcing shots including an over-the-top six off Khaleel Ahmed’s pitched up delivery. His innings was cut short when he hastened against a Ravindra Jadeja delivery that came slow and ended up in the hands of Virat Kohli at extra cover.
The promising Shimron Hetmyer did not last long as he was caught in front by Jadeja, who made good use of the dampness in the wicket by varying his pace. At the first drinks break, the West Indies were four for 53 and the writing on the wall was clear. The players should have been more cautious with their shots, especially on a surface they had no knowledge of.
Skipper Jason Holder tried to stick around, but the flicker of hope was short-lived and he fell to Ahmed caught by Kedar Jadhav. With the tail getting exposed pretty soon, it was a given where the ship was heading to. The last five wickets went down for just 47 runs.
Though all the bowlers were among the wickets, Jadeja returned the most impressive figures of 4/34. During the post-match presentation, Kohli acknowledged it by saying that “he (Jadeja) brings great balance to the side”.
When India started their chase, the outcome was more or less known unless the West Indies bowlers came up with some devastating spells. But that did not happen. The lone happy moment for the fielding side came in the second over, when Shikhar Dhawan played Oshane Thomas on to the stumps while attempting a cut.
The southpaw did not have a good run this series and might be feeling sorry for not making another chance count.
However, his partner Rohit Sharma was in fine nick and went on to score a half-century laced with four sixes and five fours. In between, Thomas succeeded in forcing an edge off Kohli but Holder failed to grab on to it at slips as India cruised to the target with 211 balls to spare for a 3-1 series win.
Incidentally, the last India-West Indies ODI in this city had also seen a nine-wicket win, achieved by the visitors in 1987.
shan.as@newindianexpress.com
Scoreboard
West Indies: Kieran c Dhoni b Bhuvneshwar 0, Rovman c Dhawan b Ahmed 16, Hope b Bumrah 0, Samuels c Kohli b Jadeja 24, Hetmyer lbw Jadeja 9, Holder c Jadhav b Ahmed 25, Allen c Jadhav b Bumrah 4, Paul c Rayudu b Kuldeep 5, Bishoo not out 8, Roach c Jadhav b Jadeja 5, Thomas lbw Jadeja 0. Extras (lb 1, w 7) 8. Total (all out, 31.5 ovs) 104. FoW: 1-1, 2-2, 3-36, 4-53, 5-57, 6-66, 7-87, 8-94, 9-103. Bowling: Bhuvneshwar 4-1-11-1, Bumrah 6-1-11-2, Ahmed 7-1-29-2, Jadeja 9.5-1-34-4, Kuldeep 5-1-18-1.
India: Rohit not out 63, Dhawan b Thomas 6, Kohli not out 33. Extras (lb 1, nb 1, w 1) 3.
Total (1 wkt, 14.5 ovs) 105. FoW: 1-6. Bowling: Roach 5-2-13-0, Thomas 4-0-33-1, Paul 2-0-22-0, Holder 1-0-15-0, Bishoo 1.5-0-16-0, Allen 1-0-5-0.