Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma each hit superb centuries to make a steep chase into a cakewalk in the first of five ODIs against Windies.
With India chasing 323, and with Shikhar Dhawan having been bowled by debutant Oshane Thomas for just 4, the Windies would have been optimistic about their chances. India’s great strength is their top three, and with one opener gone, they were halfway towards exposing a perhaps-fragile middle order.
But that second breakthrough only came when Sharma and Kohli had added 246, the pair’s highest partnership, and the result was beyond doubt. They can count themselves among ODI cricket’s most prolific pairings. This was the fifth time they had added more than 200 together. No other pair in the history of ODI cricket has done so more than three times.
Kohli was the early aggressor, with Sharma preferring, as he often does, to take his time and get set before exploding, while Kohli was his usual busy self, letting barely a ball go by without pinching at least a single. His status as an ODI great has long been confirmed, and 2018 may go down as his best ever year. In 10 innings he has scored four centuries and three half-centuries. He is averaging 127 since the end of 2017.
If anything has changed, it’s that he’s added a dominance to his ruthlessness, an ability to dismantle a bowling attack from the start as well as grind them down mercilessly. That was on full show today as he brought up his half-century from just 35 balls, timing the ball gloriously and not afraid to go up and over the infield, even early on.
We love this sight ?
How about you?@Paytm #INDvWI #KingKohli #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/UQL8wEollI
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 21, 2018
At one point, he had 84 of India’s 126 runs to his name, and some were discussing whether he might make the first double-century in a chase. Then Sharma hit consecutive sixes off Devendra Bishoo, racing down the track and launching over long-on before rocking back to pull the inevitable over-correction over midwicket, and it simply became a question of who would score more.
Watching them bat was a joy, and one almost indescribable, because to narrate every shot would take a novel. It will have to suffice to say that no part of the ground was safe, that the technicality and correctness from each was of the highest order, and that no one who saw them bat together will ever forget it.
It came as a surprise then that Kohli was eventually dismissed, and it took a gorgeous delivery to do it, a big-turning leg-break from Bishoo which dragged his back foot out of its crease long enough for Shai Hope to whip off the bails. The wicket only delayed the inevitable however.
HITMANNNN ??@Paytm #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/v1E8OCwE8L
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 21, 2018
Ambati Rayudu will barely have come out with less pressure on his shoulders, and showed his talents in a sprightly 22, but it was Sharma, fittingly, who finished off proceedings, dispatching a trio of Thomas full tosses for four – the West Indian’s debut having turned rather sour – before finishing with one final six, his eighth, and a stroke which not just sealed victory with almost eight overs to spare, but also made him the first ever player to make six 150-plus scores in ODIs.
Windies captain Jason Holder will be left scratching his head at what he and his side could have done differently. The only solace will be, when it comes to Sharma and Kohli, he certainly isn’t the first and surely won’t be the last captain to be left puzzled by their brilliance. He can at least take solace in certain aspects of his side’s performance.
With the bat, their first innings went just about according to plan. Kieran Powell kicked things off with a brisk half-century, repairing the damage after Chanderpaul Hemraj dragged on for 9, and though he fell soon after reaching fifty, picking out Dhawan on the boundary of Khaleel Ahmed.
Chahal then claimed the first of three victims, sliding one into Marlon Samuels’ pads and having him leg-before. Shai Hope rebuilt, but top-edged a pull off Shami, but his platform allowed Shimron Hetmyer, only 21 years old but already a vital part of the Windies’ line-up, to make his third ODI century, and to add some vital partnerships with Rovman Powell and Jason Holder. Hetmyer’s 106 occupied just 78 balls and contained a half dozen sixes and fours each, and with Powell and Holder each scoring at near a run a ball, Windies could eye up a big finish.
They were set back somewhat when Hetmyer holed out off Ravindra Jadeja where Rishabh Pant, almost unneeded on ODI debut, held on, Jadeja adding a second scalp after bowling Rovman Powell with an arm ball. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal then capitalised with the wickets of Holder – bowled sweeping round his legs – and Ashley Nurse – struck in front of all three – before Bishoo and Kemar Roach added a brave 45 to take Windies well past 300.
Today however, even 400 might not have been enough against two of the finest batsmen ODI cricket has ever seen.
