Visakhapatnam, Dec 18: Riding upon centuries from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul and brilliant bowling effort, including a hat-trick from chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, Team India registered a massive 107-run win over West Indies in the second one-day international at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in here on Wednesday (December 18).
With this win, Team India levelled the three-match series 1-all and the two teams will now head for Cuttack to play the third and deciding ODI on Sunday (September 22).
Having posted a mammoth 387/5 in the stipulated 50 overs after Kieron Pollard invited the Indian captain, Virat Kohli, to bat first on a batting-friendly Vizag strip. Rohit slammed his 28th ODI ton, while his opening partner Rahul notched up his third century in the 50-over format and first on Indian soil. The duo shared a huge 227-run opening stand and set the tone for a big total for the hosts. Later, Shreyas Iyer (53) and Rishabh Pant (39 off 16) punished the Windies bowlers in the death overs to ensure their team has the momentum at innings' break.
In response, the tourists too were off to a brisk start as opener Evin Lewis and Shai Hope started adding runs well in the powerplay. However, the Indians came back strongly in the middle overs and kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and prevented the tourists from overhauling the target.
Shai Hope (78) and Nicolas Pooran (75) kept the hosts on the tenterhooks with their threatening century stand but once Pooran was dismissed, Hope too lost his concentration and followed him quickly. Mohammed Shami broke the partnership between these two and removed the Windies skipper Pollard off successive deliveries to put his team in command.
Later, Kuldeep Yadav became the first Indian bowler to pick up his second hat-trick in the ODIs and broke the backbone of Windies in the run chase. The chinaman now has 99 ODI wickets to his name.
Rohit was awarded the man of the match for his brilliant batting effort.
Here's how the second ODI panned out:
Rohit Sharma, Man of the Match: It was a much-needed victory for us. We wanted to get our act together. We had a very very crucial partnership. KL (Rahul) batted brilliantly and allowed me to take my time. KL is such a talent when you watch it from the opposite end. He is growing in confidence. New partner and you saw the running between wasn't up to the mark. But we will get better. We can take a lot of confidence from how we built that partnership. I have said it many a times, once you get past your 100, you should bat as long as possible. As long as a set batter is out, you can get how much ever you want. I have played 200 plus ODIs, it is my responsibility to get as many runs as I can for the team.
Virat Kohli, the winning captain: I think what has been good in the last three games including the one at Wankhede and first two ODIs, we have batted pretty well in the first half. Batting second has never been an issue. We're one of the top sides, if not the best while chasing. It is always good to see the team getting 40-50 extra than what you would've thought at the start of the game. I think it all boils down to the good foundation. Rohit and KL were outstanding, the opening partnership set it up. Shreyas and Rishabh, the way they played and scored 55 runs in that two overs. It was fantastic hitting. Credit has to go to openers. Look, the more we get confident while batting first in T20 cricket, we can really go out there and express ourselves. It's been very nice to see the way we batted first especially after losing the toss. It shows we're not reliant on the toss. We want to bat the opposition out of the game if we bat first. It was made more out of an issue that it actually was (the number 4 conundrum during World Cup). If the number 4 doesn't get to bat consistently, then it doesn't help. He's (Shreyas Iyer) grabbed his chances and performed well. It's a very tricky situation to come in and we are just happy that a youngster has come in and is playing freely. Reviews are always left upon the keeper and the bowler. Both of them were convinced but the replays suggested otherwise. Wasn't really pleased with how we took the review. Catching has been disappointing. It is not the representation of the kind of standards that we set. It's very important to maintain standards and live upto it. We are one of the best fielding sides in the world. Fielding is all about wanting the ball. As long as we are enjoying that, we will be right up there.
Kieron Pollard, the losing captain: I thought we gave away too many runs at the back end, in the last 20 overs. We were a bit indisciplined towards the end of the 50 overs. We thought and saw that it will be a good wicket. They were able to get away from us at the back end. But it also showed, in order to win they have to score big against us. It was a matter of execution for us. We were not able to execute our plans how we want to. 40-50 runs less, it might have been little different. Rohit batted well and so did KL Rahul. That allowed the other batsmen to play freely (in the death overs) with the platform laid. There are some youngsters and there are some talented ones, I have spoken about them again and again. Pooran we got a glimpse of him tonight. Nothing happens overnight, it's about putting the pieces of puzzle together, it's work in progress. Didn't spend much time in there. We deserve to go out with a bang, our heads and shoulders are still high. We'll come back and fight hard in a couple of days. Virat hasn't had a great time in this series, so he would look to come hard against us in the final game.
Kuldeep Yadav: It has been a perfect day for me, taking a second hat-trick in ODIs. Still can't find words to describe the feeling. It has been tough for me in the last 4-5 months. I have worked hard and been bowling well, it was a very satisfying performance. There was not a lot of turn on offer but we had 380 runs and we knew they would come hard. I was just varying my pace. I was a bit confused as to which one to bowl; whether to bowl the chinaman or wrong 'un, I went for the wrong 'un and put an extra fielder at slip (on the hat-trick ball).
Wicket! Shami gets the final wicket and ends Windies innings for 280. India won the match by 187 runs and equalled the series.
India win!
— ICC (@ICC) December 18, 2019
Hundreds for Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were backed up by a hat-trick for Kuldeep Yadav 🙌
The series is 1-1 with one game to play 👀 #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/sZHSzC3Wnq
Wicket! Khary Pierre (21) looks to clear Ravindra Jadeja for another maximum but fails to time it. Virat Kohli takes a simple catch in the deep. WI - 260/9 in 40.5 overs.
West Indies reach 251/8 in 39 overs. Kharry Pierre - 19* & Keemo Paul - 22* are present in the middle.
HAT-TRICK!!! Second hat-trick for Kuldeep Yadav in ODIs. Kedar Jadhav takes fine catch at second slip to get rid of Alzarri Joseph for a duck. He's the first Indian bowler to get two hat-tricks in ODIs. WI - 210/8 in 33 overs.
Wicket! Two in two for Kuldeep as Rishabh Pant stumps Jason Holder for 11. Celebration in the Indian camp as Windies go 7 down. WI - 210/7 in 32.5 overs.
WICKET!! Dangerman Shai Hope (78) looks to slog sweep Kuldeep Yadav but an alert Virat Kohli took a well-judged catch near the boundary ropes at deep mid-wicket. 1st wicket for Kuldeep. WI - 210/6 in 32.4 overs.
SIX!! Jason Holder hits Kuldeep Yadav for a maximum as the chinaman bowls a leg-spin.
West Indies reach 203/5 in 32 overs against India in Vizag. Shai Hope - 78* & Jason Holder - 4* are present in the middle.
Dropped! Shai Hope gets another reprieve as India captain Virat Kohli tried catching the mistimed shot running backwards.
Virat Kohli - 0 & Kieron Pollard - 0. This is the first instance when both the captains got dismissed for Golden Duck in the same ODI.
Wicket! Kieron Pollard departs for a golden duck as Shami strikes two in two. Pollard nicks the pacer and Pant pouches it comfortably. He's on a HAT-TRICK WI - 192/5 in 29.3 overs.
Wicket! Nicolas Pooran's (75 off 47) imperious innings comes to an end thanks to a fine catch by Kuldeep Yadav in the deep. Shami gets the breakthrough. WI- 192/4 in 29.2 overs.
SIX, Four! Pooran gets 10 off the first two deliveries bowled by Kuldeep and with that comes 100-run partnership between Hope and Pooran. India find themselves on sticky wickets.
13 runs conceded by Shami in the first over of his comeback spell. West Indies - 181/3 in 28 overs. Pooran - 64*, Hope - 72* have kept the visitors in the hunt.
SIX, Four!!! Shami is brought into the attack and Nicolas Pooran welcomes him with a maximum and later gets an outside edge boundary.
SIX!! Pooran at it again as he hammers Jadeja over long-off for second maximum of the over and this one sailed way back into the stands. Four! Pooran gets a boundary on the final delivery as WI milk 16 off it. WI - 161/3 in 26 overs.
SIX!! Nicolas Pooran hits Ravindra Jadeja to hit his third maximum of the innings and bring 150 up for his team.
Fifty-partnership between Hope and Pooran.
After getting hit by Pooran for a six, Jadeja had an opportunity to get the dangerous batsman but Deepak Chahar put down a sitter on the very next ball to the bowler's dismay. Pooran added salt to their injury by hitting Jadeja for another six in that over. Windies reach 135/3 in 24 overs.
4,0,0,Wd,4,1,1! 11 runs conceded by Jadeja from that over as Nicolas Pooran hit the Indian for a couple of boundaries in that over.
Nicholas Pooran averages 34.7 facing deliveries spinning into him compared to 113.0 against the ones spinning away. #INDvWI
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) December 18, 2019
DRS lost! Kohli goes upstairs to review the LBW appeal from Kuldeep against Shai Hope but the ball was missing wickets.
100 up for West Indies in the 21st over.
Fifty! Shai Hope continues his brilliant form with the bat as he notches up another fine half-century. WI - 98/3 in 20 overs.
Wicket! Roston Chase (4) has been clean bowled by a beauty from Ravindra Jadeja. WI - 86/3 in 16 overs.
Run Out! Shreyas Iyer first saves a boundary and then immediately recovers to throw the ball right into Ravindra Jadeja's hands at non-striker's end, and Jaddu dislodges the bails to dismiss the centurion from previous game Shimron Hetmyer for 4. WI - 73/2 in 13.1 overs.
What. An. Effort. Shreyas Iyer. #IndvWI
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 18, 2019
SIX!! Brilliant lofted drive down the ground from Shai Hope against Shardul Thakur and the ball just sails outside the boundary for a maximum.