Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma starred in India’s nine-wicket series clinching win over West Indies after the tourists were skittled out for just 104 in the fifth one-day international on Thursday.
West Indies won the toss and elected to bat in Thiruvananthapuram but collapsed, surviving just 31.5 of their 50 overs under overcast skies to register their lowest ODI total against India.
Jadeja claimed four wickets with his left-arm spin as India romped to their target in 14.5 overs to take the five-match series 3-1. The second game was a tie.
Opener Rohit Sharma, who smashed 63, and skipper Virat Kohli, who made 33, put on an unbeaten 99-run stand as the hosts raced to their target before the sun had set in the day-night game.
“It was a clinical performance. Credit has to go to the bowling unit, pitching the ball in the right place,” Kohli said after the win. We wanted to bowl first anyway and we got lucky. We were surprised West Indies batted,” he added.
Fast bowler Oshane Thomas bowled opener Shikhar Dhawan for six but the wicket proved just a hiccup in India’s march towards an easy win.
Jadeja set up the convincing victory after returning figures of 4-34 from his 9.5 overs.
Skipper Jason Holder top-scored with 25 to raise hopes of a West Indies fightback but the rest of the batting folded.
Young paceman Khaleel Ahmed also made his presence felt for India, with two key strikes including the wicket of Holder.
Jadeja, who was named man of the match, polished off the West Indies’ tail and India did not need the customary break after end of the first innings to get past their target.
The two sides now head to Kolkata for the first of three Twenty20 internationals on November 4.
In a series that has created a few records of the wrong kind for West Indies, the fifth ODI saw the Caribbean side post the lowest ever total against India.
Lowest totals for Windies v India in ODIs:
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) November 1, 2018
104, Thiruvananthapuram, 2018*
121, Port of Spain, 1997
123, Kolkata, 1993
126, Perth, 1991#indvwi2018
India's biggest wins in ODIs
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) November 1, 2018
(balls to spare)
231 v Kenya (Bloemfontein 2001)
211 v WI (Today)#INDvWIN #INDvWI
46.4 overs is the shortest completed 50-over ODI in India featuring India.
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) November 1, 2018
Previous fewest was 48.1 overs - Ind (21.1) vs NZ (27), Chennai, 2010#INDvWI
India have not lost an international series of two teams in India since November, 2015. They have won 18 out of 19 international series. #INDvsWI
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) November 1, 2018
This was India’s sixth ODI series win on the trot at home.
Captains with highest win% in ODIs
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) November 1, 2018
(Min.25 matches)
76.19 Clive Lloyd (64/84)
73.68 VIRAT KOHLI (42/57)
71.74 Ricky Ponting (165/230)
71.74 Hansie Cronje (99/138)#INDvWIN #INDvWI
Shikhar Dhawan’s indifferent form notwithstanding, Indian top order was hard to crack in the series.
Kohli was the man of the series for his 453 runs in five matches including three centuries and a highest score of 157 not out. The prolific run-getter became the quickest to 10,000 ODI runs in his 205th innings in Visakhapatnam ODI that ended in a tie last week.
Most runs in a five-match bilateral ODI series:
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) November 1, 2018
515 Fakhar Zaman v Zim, 2018
467 H Masakadza v Ken, 2009
453 V Kohli v WI, 2018 *
451 Salman Butt v Ban, 2008
448 Mohd Hafeez v SL, 2013#INDvWI
“To get runs as captain always gives me confidence. It won’t happen all the time, but when I’m going, I want to keep going longer,” said Kohli.
“I don’t play for awards, just to impact the series and help the team win.”
Most Man of the Series awards for India in ODIs:
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) November 1, 2018
14 - Sachin Tendulkar
7 - Yuvraj Singh
6 - Sourav Ganguly
6 - VIRAT KOHLI*#indvwi2018
Rohit, who now has the highest ODI score by an Indian cricketer in a calendar year every time since 2013, also reached 1000 runs for 2018 — becoming the second player to do so after Kohli.
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Rohit Sharma's batting average in each calendar year since 2013:
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) November 1, 2018
2013 - 52.00
2014 - 52.54
2015 - 50.93
2016 - 62.66
2017 - 71.83
2018 - 73.57
Unbelievable!#INDvWI
During his unbeaten innings at the Sports Hub on Thursday, Rohit went past the mark of 200 ODI sixes, becoming the seventh cricketer to do so and the fastest in terms of innings taken. He went past Sachin Tendulkar at CCI during the fourth ODI and is only behind MS Dhoni among Indians.
Balls taken to hit 200 ODI sixes:
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) November 1, 2018
4203 Shahid Afridi
6308 B McCullum
8387 ROHIT SHARMA
9390 AB de Villiers
10197 C Gayle
10368 MS Dhoni
11774 S Jayasuriya#INDvWI
Rohit Sharma becomes the 7th player and only the 2nd Indian to hit 200 sixes in ODI cricket.
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) November 1, 2018
He is the quickest to 200 ODI sixes taking 187 innings. Previous fastest: Shahid Afridi in 195 inns. #INDvWI
200 sixes for Rohit Sharma in 187 innings - the fastest to reach there in terms of inns.
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) November 1, 2018
Prev record: Shahid Afridi (195 inns)#IndvWI
Rohit has scored 202 sixes in ODIs. Among Indians only Dhoni (218) scored more. 178 of Rohit's sixes have come since he started opening full-time in 2013 Champions Trophy, 66 more than AB de Villiers, who's 2nd on the list in the timeline.#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/0l3ceP3PPT
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) November 1, 2018
With AFP inputs