Thiruvananthapuram, November 1: India made light work of the paltry 105-run target and cruised home within 15 overs to register an emphatic 9-wicket win over Windies in the fifth and final ODI here on Thursday (November 1). With this win, the Men In Blue clinched the five-match series against Windies 3-1 to register their eighth straight ODI series win against them.
Chasing a target, India lost the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan (6) in the second over itself but captain Virat Kohli (33*) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (63*) ensured the hosts romp home without losing any further wickets.
In the process, Rohit also notched up his 37th ODI half-century and also hammered 202* sixes in the ODI format so far. He's now only behind MS Dhoni (217) to have smashed 200-plus sixes as an Indian.
This is the fifth consecutive series win for Virat Kohli at home. He has surpassed MS Dhoni who has registered 4 successive wins as Indian captain at home soil. The match was wrapped up in 46.4 overs. This is the shortest match completed 50-over ODI in India featuring them.
CHAMPIONS 👏#TeamIndia clinch the series 3-1 #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/1ZKZaUpRpF
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 1, 2018
Earlier, Windies captain Jason Holder won his first toss in the series and opted to bat at the Greenfield International Stadium. But the tourists were off to a disastrous start and never really got the momentum from then on and their entire innings eventually folded up for 104 in 31.4 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja (9.5-1-34-4) was awarded the man of the match for his brilliance with the ball. The Saurashtra all-rounder was the pick of the bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah (6-1-11-2) and Khaleel Ahmed (7-1-29-2) also bagged two wickets each from the strip that was assisting the bowlers.
The Windies witnessed another batting collapse as none of their batsmen rose to the occasion after Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Kieran Powell (0) and Shai Hope (0) in their first overs with the new ball. Jason Holder (25) and Marlon Samuels (24) were the top scorers for the Windies in the innings.
India played with an unchanged XI while the visitors have made a couple of changes to their side. Ashley Nurse has been ruled out due to injury while out-of-form Chandrapaul Hemraj has been replaced by Oshane Thomas.
As it happened:
Kohli was named the man of the series while Ravindra Jadeja was awarded the man of the match for his bowling effort.
Done and dusted! India have registered an emphatic 9-wicket win over Windies with 35.1 overs to spare. India have also clinched their 8th straight ODI series win against the Windies, with this win.
FIFTY! Rohit Sharma slams his 37th ODI half-century off 45 deliveries. The Hitman has already hammered 3 SIXES and 5 boundaries in this innings so far.
End of 10 overs! India are 52/1 against Windies in the run chase of 105. Oshane Thomas got the wicket of Dhawan (5) and he had almost got the wickets of Kohli and Rohit in that 1st powerplay. He's been slightly unlucky.
Survives! Rohit Sharma had edged Oshane Thomas and almost started walking back towards the pavilion but the bowler had overstepped and the umpire signalled a No Ball. This is was second occasion when the youngster missed a wicket.
Harsha Bhogle praises the young talent 'Oshane Thomas'.
Can the West Indies look after Oshane Thomas? So much to work with there. He can be quick!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 1, 2018
After 6 overs, India have reached 30 for the loss of one wicket. They now need 75 more runs to win this game.
Dropped! Kohli (4) survives as Jason Holder puts him down at slip cordon and the ball raced away towards the boundary for four. Oshane Thomas could have given India a big jolt.
Wicket! Shikhar Dhawan departs for 6 and India have lost their first wicket and Oshane Thomas gives India their first jolt in the run chase. Dhawan's dismissal was an action replay of Guwahati ODI where he was cleaned up in a similar fashion.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan begin India's response in run chase.
Lowest ODI total for WI against India.
Lowest score for WI vs India in ODIs:
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) November 1, 2018
104 Trivandrum, 2018 *
121 Port of Spain, 1997
123 Kolkata, 1993
126 Perth, 1991
129 Johannesburg, 2009#INDvWI
It's all over!! Oshane Thomas (0) is trapped right in front of the stumps and Jadeja gets his fourth wicket. West Indies have been bundled out for 104 in 31.4 overs. Clinical bowling performance from India.
Wicket! Kedar Jadhav takes another brilliant catch near the boundary to end Kemar Roach's innings for 5. Jadeja gets another wicket. WI - 103/9 in 31.3 overs. Jadhav takes his 3rd catch of the innings.
100 comes up for the Windies with a boundary from Kemar Roach towards the square-leg boundary. WI - 102/8 after 31 overs.
Reprieve! Kemar Roach uses DRS to change the umpire's decision of LBW against him. The ball-tracking showed the ball was going away from the leg stumps. Kuldeep has to wait for his second wicket. WI - 94/8 after 29 overs.
Wicket! Keemo Paul (5) slog sweeps Kuldeep to get a maximum but failed to get the distance and Rayudu takes a well-judged catch. WI - 94/8 now.
Wicket No. 7! Windies' last hope Jason Holder too departs. He's caught by Kedar Jadhav off Khaleel Ahmed. WI - 87/7 in 25.2 overs.
After 24 overs, West Indies have reached 81/6. Captain Jason Holder is leading the charge from the front and looking to add runs quickly on the board before the tail-enders perish.
Wicket! Khaleel Ahmed gets his first wicket of the match as he picks the wicket of opener Rovman Powell for 16. Dhawan takes a simple catch as the batsman played a loose shot. Windies are 5 down.
Wicket! Jadeja gets the second wicket as Shimron Hetmyer (9) departs LBW. Jadeja had to convince his skipper to go upstairs to review it as Dhoni wasn't sure if the ball pitched in the right area or not. WI - 53/4 after 15.5 overs.
Wicket! Ravindra Jadeja has struck for India just when the partnership was getting dangerous for them. Marlon Samuels looked to trying something different but eventually ended up giving a simple catch to Virat Kohli. First wicket for Jadeja and Windies are 36/3 in 11.4 overs.
5th ODI: Jadeja bowls the 10th over and finishes with a maiden. WI - 30/2. Good start for India in the first powerplay but Samuels and Rovman Powell have shown some resilience after losing those two wickets cheaply.
Khaleel Ahmed has been brought into the attack in the 9th over and Marlon Samuels welcomes him with a six and a boundary. He is looking to free his arms now as he picks Khaleel early and hits him straight over his head for a maximum. He flicks southpaw towards midwicket for a boundary. Samuels is looking in good touch today. His bat has been mostly silent in this series.
5 overs have been bowled and Windies are 6/2 after Keiran Powell and Shai Hope were dismissed by Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah without scoring.
Jasprit Bumrah bowls the second over for India and he gets a wicket on the fourth delivery of his first spell. Shai Hope has been cleaned up for duck. The ball was angled inside and the batsman played it on to the stumps. Windies are 2/2 in 1.4 overs.
The Wall inducted to ICC Hall of Fame!
Rahul Dravid becomes the 5th Indian to be inducted in the @ICC Hall of Fame. Congratulations to the legend on joining a list of all-time greats across generations. pic.twitter.com/RAyQ8KrtWR
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 1, 2018
Wicket! Bhuvneshwar Kumar strikes in the first over itself as he gets rid of Kieran Powell for duck. Powell edged the outswinging delivery and Dhoni does no mistake with the gloves. WI - 1/1 in 0.4 overs.
Kieran Powell and Rovman Powell have opened the innings for Windies and Bhuvneshwar Kumar starts with the new ball.
Jason Holder: We are gonna bat first. It looks a very good wicket and looks a bit dry as well. Hopefully, we will get some runs on the board and our bowlers would go out there and defend it. We have made two changes. Ashley Nurse is out and Devendra Bishoo comes in and Chanderpaul Hemraj is out and Oshane Thomas comes in. He (Nurse) is ruled out for the entire tour. I wish him well. Hopefully, he can recover quickly for the next tour. I think it it is about consistency. We just need to be more consistent to beat the best teams. We have given glimpses of that in this series. Our batters will have to put runs on the board and the bowlers will have back to them up and support them.
Windies (Playing XI): Kieran Powell, Shai Hope(w), Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder(c), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas.