Kuldeep Yadav becomes first Indian to bag two ODI hat-tricks as India beats West Indies by 107 runs

Kuldeep first had Shai Hope caught in the deep by Virat Kohli for 78 runs. Jason Holder was stumped off his next delivery before he completed the feat by getting Alzarri Joseph caught in the slips.

India's Kuldeep Yadav leaps in the air to celebrate the hat-trick (Photo | AP)

CHENNAI: For the second time in a fortnight, the famed Indian batting line-up showed what they are capable of. The first came in the final T20I in Mumbai and the second in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. At the ACA-VDCA Stadium, it was almost like extending what they had done at Wankhede Stadium.

This time, it was for a longer period which produced 387/5 in 50 overs — exactly 100 more than what they had failed to defend in the first ODI in Chennai. Few expected the West Indies to make a match of it after that and they didn’t.

Like in Mumbai, openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul began with a flourish, which set the tempo for the middle-order duo of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to cash in on. In the absence of a settled middle-order, India’s Plan A in ODIs in recent years was to protect wickets and accelerate in the last 10 overs. The ploy didn’t always work, especially on flat surfaces where they often ended up below the par total.

On Wednesday, this batting line-up showed signs that things are changing. Blessed with stroke-makers in the top three, Indian batsmen had been hesitant in playing shots in the middle overs and content to keep the scoreboard ticking. May be the absence of Shikhar Dhawan has helped in the sense that it has given India a more aggressive opener in Rahul.

With him finding boundaries at will and releasing the pressure, Rohit didn’t have to worry when he was going a tad slow in the beginning. “I got the opportunity to bat up the order where I’m comfortable. It’s where I feel I can play my best. Just wanted to make it count. I’m very clear about what I have to do, what role I play and I just want to do my best,” Rahul said.

After scoring 55 in the power play, the new approach came to the fore in the middle overs. Between overs 11-37 when Rohit and Rahul were together, India scored 172 runs in 27 overs at 6.3 runs per over. “Initially we gave ourselves time, three four overs. Then we figured what a good total was and paced it that way. It’s not that both of us get go­ing from ball one,” he said.

Rahul’s third ODI century was his first at home. Rohit co­ntinued his habit of converting centuries into big ones. The kn­ock of 159 was his eighth above 150 in ODIs. The only blotch in his innings was that he didn’t covert this into his fourth double century as there were six overs left when he departed.

No matter how good the top is, every team needs a reliable No 4. These are early days for Shreyas Iyer, but in the 11 matches he has played so far, he has only made India think why they didn’t use him before the World Cup. Apart from showing maturity to consolidate in case of early wickets, Iyer also has the game to take the bowlers to the cleaners. After getting his eye in with Rohit still in the middle, Iyer teed off in the 47th over, taking 28 runs off Roston Chase as India plundered 31 in one over. A single in the next over brought up Iyer’s fourth successive ODI half-century.

Rishabh Pant is also beginning to repose the faith the team has shown in him. Walking in after Rohit was dismi­ssed, Pant connected his fourth ball for a six and off the 16 deliveries he faced, he made 39 with three boundaries and four sixes. The onslaught helped India posted their ninth-highest total in ODIs. The bowlers ensured India ended a four-match losing streak in home ODIs. The decider will be played in Cuttack on December 22.

Scoreboard

India: Rohit c Hope b Cottrell 159, Rahul c Chase b Joseph 102, Kohli c Chase b Pollard 0, Iyer c Hope b Cottrell 53, Pant c Pooran b Paul 39, Jadhav (not out) 16, Jadeja (not out) 0. Extras (b1, lb3, nb1, w13) 18. Total (5 wickets, 50 overs) 387.

FoW: 1-227, 2-232, 3-292, 4-365, 5-373.

Bowling: Cottrell 9-0-83-2, Holder 9-0-45-0, Pierre 9-0-62-0, Paul 7-0-57-1, Joseph 9-1-68-1, Chase 5-0-48-0, Pollard 2-0-20-1.

West Indies: Lewis c Iyer b Thakur 30, Hope c Kohli b Kuldeep 78, Hetmyer (run out) 4, Chase b Jadeja 4, Pooran c Yadav b Shami 75, Pollard c Pant b Shami 0, Holder st Pant b Kuldeep 11, Paul b Shami 46, Joseph c Jadhav b Kuldeep 0, Pierre c Kohli b Jadeja 21, Cottrell (not out) 0. Extras (b1, lb2, w8) 11, Total (all out, 43.3 overs) 280.

FoW: 1-61, 2-73, 3-86, 4-192, 5-192, 6-210, 7-210, 8-210, 9-260.

Bowling: Chahar 7-1-44-0, Thakur 8-0-55-1, Shami 7.3-0-39-3, Jadeja 10-0-74-2, Kuldeep 10-0-52-3, Iyer 1-0-13-0.