India 7-311 (Virat Kohli 102, Shikhar Dhawan 69, Tino Best 2-51) beat West Indies 171 (Johnson Charles 45, Kemar Roach 34, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-29, Umesh Yadav 3-32) by 102 runs (D/L method)
Virat Kohli led his team from the front in a decisive game with complete support from his bowlers and defeated West Indies by a heavy margin at Trinidad.
The Blue Shirts hammered 311 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the measured 50 overs and the innings of the Caribbeans was rolled back at 171 with 30 balls still remaining after the encounter was reduced to 39 overs due to weather.
Virat Kohli (India) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his brave knock of 102 from 83 mere balls.
The fourth match of the West Indies Tri-Nation Series was played on Friday, July 5, 2013, at Queens Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinindad.
Earlier, Dwayne Bravo, the captain of West Indies, won the toss and preferred to chase. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan opened up for India smartly by scoring 39 runs from 10 overs with 7 fours. The batsmen kept on cruising nicely with the assistance of regular boundaries and went past the hundred runs mark in the 22nd over. Shikhar Dhawan hit his third ODI fifty in the same over and punished Sunil Narine for 18 runs in the following over with 2 lofty sixes and 1 four.
Dhawan was gone at 123 in 23.1 overs at his personal contribution of 69 runs which included 2 sixes and 8 fours and was replaced by his skipper, Virat Kohli. Rohit Sharma became the next victim 18 runs later for 46 off 78 with 5 fours when Suresh Raina walked in next in the park. The Men in Blue lost two quick wickets as the total touched 168 after 35.1 overs while Murali Vijay took guards at the crease. The run rate was picked up instantly as powerplay was taken by the batsmen after 35 overs and the ball was being dispatched to the fence regularly. They gathered 8 fours until the 40th over and Murali Vijay was caught by Johnson Charles off Kieron Pollard for 27. Ravindra Jadeja was run out for just two runs as Kohli came into his own with a positive support from Ravichandran Ashwin at the other end. Virat Kohli plundered his 14th ODI ton on the second ball of the final over and lost his wicket for 102 off 83 deliveries with 2 big sixes and 13 fours. Ashwin remained unbeaten for 25 while India thrashed 311 with three wickets remaining in 50 overs.
Tino Best was the chief wicket taker with two whereas Kemar Roach, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Kieron Pollard shared one wicket each.
The Windies lost their two top order batsmen for 25 runs in five overs including Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo. Johnson Charles was the only batsman who fought well against the lethal bowling of India and hit 2 sixes and 4 fours in the coming overs. The hosts reached 2-56 in 10 overs when the play was interrupted because of rain for nearly 1 hour and 28 minutes. The target was revised to 274 in 39 overs and the Caribbeans batsmen were unable to cope with the targeted bowling while the wickets started crumbling one after another.
Johnson Charles was the fifth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 45 off 39 with 2 sixes and 6 fours. The 8th wicket fell at 113 in 24.3 overs when Kemar Roach and Sunil Narine provided some resistance. They accumulated 58 runs for the 9th wicket when Narine was caught by Ishant Sharma at long-off at the bowling of Jadeja for 36 runs. Roach was clean bowled by Jadeja for 21 as West Indies was bowled out for 171 after utilising 34 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav were the supreme bowlers with three wickets each whereas Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with two wickets each.
India came back in the event by winning their first game against the home side with a vast margin of 102 runs and got five vital points.
The current standing of three teams in the event is as follows:
1- West Indies – 9 points from 3 games at a net run rate of -0.208.
2- Sri Lanka – 5 points from 2 games at a net run rate of +1.051.
3- India – 5 points from 2 games at a net run rate of -0.524.
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