CUTTACK: They love chasing. No wonder Virat Kohli didn’t pause for a second to say that India would bowl first on Sunday, the moment they won the toss for the third ODI against West Indies. What else would you expect from a man who has seven centuries in the nine 300-plus hunts the Men in Blue have successfully completed over the last decade?
Yes, the series was on the line. But they have an opener dealing in centuries this year. He has a partner who has rediscovered his white-ball mojo. They have another youngster who is making that jinxed No 4 slot his own. They have another left-hander who appears to be back in his murderous groove. Plus, it was a mixed bag for India in terms of defending totals over the last week.
What Kohli did made sense. There were jittery moments in between. But by the time Sunday came to a close at Barabati Stadium, the India captain and his supercomputer of a brain — that goes into overdrive during chases — were vindicated.
For 30-odd overs, India’s bowlers seemed to have done what was needed. There was grip, and Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav used it. Pacers Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini had shown discipline. Evin Lewis struggled. Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer got starts, but couldn’t go all the way. By the time Roston Chase was cleaned up by a Saini yorker, West Indies had trundled to 144/4 in 31.3 overs.But when backed into a corner, West Indies have a mantra that often sees them flip the narrative on its head: hit their way out of trouble. Nicholas Pooran went after Saini and Shardul. Pollard went for anything full in his arc. A total of 14 fours and 10 sixes were smashed. The skipper himself sent seven over the ropes. The visitors had posted 315/5.
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were at their usual opening best. A fifth 100-plus stand this year; minimal fuss. Rohit couldn’t last long enough to go into double-century mode, but at 122/1 in 21.2 overs, West Indies were sweating bullets.But they had a plan: go short or go broke. Rahul was suckered by Alzarri Joseph. Shreyas Iyer brandished his sword against the ploy, and fell on it. Rishabh Pant succumbed to boundary pressure. Kedar Jadhav played across a full delivery and lost his stumps. India were reeling at 228/5.But Kohli was still there, like he had been in Hyderabad during that chase in the first T20I. He too had taken on the short balls. But unlike his soldiers, his awe-inspiring muscle memory made him twirl his wrists to keep his pulls down.
Sheldon Cottrell and Holder were negotiated without risks, as Ravindra Jadeja hung around resolutely. Arms and legs were chanced for risky singles, but to success. Kohli kept firing till the equation eased to 30 off 23. Shardul and Jadeja took care of the rest.
No eighth ton in a 300-plus chase, one that was won by an extra. But Kohli had made the last ODI of the decade his own while walking off for 85, 15 balls before that happened.
scoreboard
West Indies: Lewis c Saini b Jadeja 21, Hope b Shami 42, Chase b Saini 38, Hetmyer c Kuldeep b Saini 37, Pooran c Jadeja b Thakur 89, Pollard (not out) 74, Holder (not out) 7. Extras (lb4, w3) 7. Total (5 wkts, 50 ovs) 315. FoW: 1-57, 2-70, 3-132, 4-144, 5-279. Bowling: Thakur 10-0-66-1, Shami 10-2-66-1, Saini 10-0-58-2, Kuldeep 10-0-67-0, Jadeja 10-0-54-1.
India: Rohit c Hope b Holder 63, Rahul c Hope b Joseph 77, Kohli b Paul 85, Iyer c Joseph b Paul 7, Pant b Paul 7, Jadhav b Cottrell 9, Jadeja (not out) 39, Shardul (not out) 17. Extras (lb 2, nb1, w9) 12. Total (6 wkts, 48.4 ovs) 316. FoW: 1-122, 2-167, 3-188, 4-201, 5-228, 6-286. Bowling: Cottrell 10-1-74-1, Holder 10-0-63-1, Paul 9.4-0-59-3, Chase 4-0-19-0, Pierre 7-0-46-0, Joseph 8-0-53-1.