India snatch 48-run victory as West Indies crumble under pressure in 2nd ODI

Oct 12: Mohammad Shami‘s career-best four for 36 led India to a 48-run victory over West Indies in the second One-Day International (ODI) played at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on Saturday.

West Indies who were put to bowl by Indian skipper MS Dhoni had a task to chase a total of 264 runs in the allotted 50 overs. The West Indies chase started cautiously, the two openers Dwayne Smith and Darren Bravo were in full attention in early four overs and only collected 7 runs of it. But the fifth from Bhuvaneshwar Kumar broke the strict monitoring from Indian bowlers as it went for costly 12 runs.

Both batsmen faced no issues playing the the Indian bowling attack which was deficient in pace and bounce. After 10 overs West Indies had reached 45 runs without any damages. The first break for the Indian bowlers came in the 14th over which was bowled by Mohammed Shami. Bravo missed a delivery pitched in from around the stumps which knocked off his off-stump. The wicket saw Kieron Pollard make his way towards the Kotla pitch to bat at No. 3.

Indian bowlers bowled few tight overs when they had a new batsmen in. Five overs just went for 11 runs. Pollard announced his arrival with a 88 meter six from the last ball of the 19th over bowled by Ravindra Jadeja. The hundred came up in the 23rd over and both the West Indies batsmen easily steamed the lose deliveries across the short Delhi boundary. Pollard gave away his wicket soon after when he tried to hoick a flatter delivery floated outside off by Amit Mishra for a thunderous six but instead inside edged it onto the stumps.

Marlon Samuels joined Smith at the crease but his stay at the wicket was painful for the West Indies team. The centurion from last match hogged too many balls. In a crunch situation when the asking rate was climbing with every ball, Samuels defended two overs from Mishra which poisoned the West Indies innings. The 32nd over by Virat Kohli went for 14 runs soaked some pressure from tense West Indies faces. Smith who was nearing his hundred took the ultimate charge to Shami and smacked him for a six over long-on. And like previous match, he was cleaned up after hitting the six. That was the changing corner of the match.

Things changed quickly after. Samuels was caught by Kohli at cover when he attempted to flash his bat at a short delivery. He took 38 golden deliveries to scratch 16 runs from his bat. Jadeja who bowled the 43rd over and ensured the match doesn’t stem further. His first victim was Andre Russell who was stumped after he failed to spot the turn. Darren Sammy was bowled by Jadeja in the last ball of the over .

The only hope, Dwayne Bravo was grabbed by Shami in the next over. At one point West Indies looked pretty at 170 for 2 but in the end the whole team was just caked away by the Indian bowlers in a jiffy. The West Indies innings ultimately ended on 216 runs from 46.3 overs.

Earlier, India scored 263 runs after losing seven wickets. India had a wobbly start to their innings as Shikhar Dhawan walked back to the pavilion only in the second over of the match. Ajinkya Rahane played few handsome looking shots before he too perished as he played a upish drive straight to the cover fielder. Ambati Rayudu came in to bat at No. 3 in place of Virat Kohli and played sensibily enough for his 32 runs. India achieved stability under a 100 plus partnership between Kohli and Suresh Raina. Dhoni came in with a composed half-century in the end which took India to a respectable score

Jerome Taylor was the most successful bowler for the West Indies team as he picked three wickets giving away 54 runs.

Brief scores:

India 263 for 7 in 50 overs ( Suresh Raina 62, Virat Kohli 62; Jerome Taylor 3 for 54) beat West Indies 215 in 46.3 overs (Dwayne Smith 97, Kieron Pollard 40; Mohammad Shami 4 for 36) by 48 runs.

Man of the match: Mohammed Shami