It was a very embarrassing defeat for Dhoni’s men in the first ODI against the West Indies where they lost by 124 runs. Nobody expected West Indies to perform so well against the current World Champions without the likes of Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine in their team. The loss in the first match made the second one so important for India. They simply could not have taken their opponents lightly. It was also a matter of pride and prestige because nobody gave this West Indian side a chance against the Indians. West Indies though controlled the second One Day International for most of the time but their poor batting and incapability of tackling spin bowling let them down. India finally won the match by 48 runs.
India vs West Indies, 2nd ODI: Team India back on track
It was a hot and humid day at Kotla yesterday, when MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers did not put together a partnership as Dhawan was bowled when the scoreboard read 4 for the loss of one wicket. The wicket was slow and the batsmen found it really tough to get going. Suresh Raina played a very nice inning and accumulated 62 crucial runs. Virat Kohli who was struggling for form scored a well-deserved fifty but was also was dismissed for the same score as Raina. If it had not been for the skipper’s swashbuckling knock in the end, India would not even have scored 250. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 51 which came only of 40 deliveries. India’s score at the half way mark of the match was 263 for 7 which was considerably a low score given that the outfield was fast and the boundaries were small.
West Indies got off to a breezy start and were 170 for the loss of 2 wickets. Dwayne Smith was at the crease on 97 when Md. Shami bowled him to give India a crucial break through. Smith scored his runs from as many balls and was looking to take the game completely away from India. His wicket gave some confidence back to the side. From there on in it was all India. They picked up the remaining wickets for only 45 runs. Amit Mishra’s leg spin was too much for the visitors as he picked up Pollard and Ramdin to create a panic inside the Caribbean side. Ravindra Jadeja also picked up three wickets to completely kill the game off. The last wicket fell for the score of 215 when Shami picked up his fourth wicket and finished with career best figures of 4 for 36. He was given the Man of the Match award for his brilliant bowling.
The win was very important for the Indian side as it gave them some much needed momentum for the rest of the series. West Indies are a side who capitalize on their opponents weakness and as Dhoni said at the post match presentation that the team needs to focus a little more to bring the best out of their potential, it will be an interesting battle in the last three matches between these two sides.
Tags: Cricket, India, ODI Series, Team India, West Indies
