Visakhapatnam City:India returned in the second ODI to lift West Indies’ sixes. India won by 107 runs in Visakhapatnam. They went 1–1 in the series. The final will be played in Cuttack on Sunday. India set out for Visakhapatnam on the verge of losing the series. Captain Virat Kohli was disappointed to miss the toss and bat first. It didn’t take long to get over that frustration. Rohit Sharma (159 off 138 balls), Lokesh Rahul (102 off 104 balls), Shreyas Iyer (53 off 32) and Rishabh Pant (39 off 16 balls) were the top scorers. The West Indies responded with sixes as usual. Kuldeep Yadav’s hat-trick and Mohammad Shami’s pace prevented the West Indies. Their score fell to 280. Scorecard India 5–387; West Indies 280 (43.3).
Batting in Vishakhapatnam was a paradise. Rohit and Rahul burnt there. Rohit fell to the start but changed his mind as he approached the century. Earlier, India were bowled out for 227 on the first wicket. Rohit hit five sixes and 17 fours in his innings. It was Rahul’s third century. He hit three sixes and 10 boundaries.
Meanwhile, Captain Kohli was disappointed. Out off the first ball. West Indies captain Kieran Pollard has returned.
In the last overs, youngsters Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pandey were batting. Both hit four fours and three fours each. In 46 and 47 overs, Shreyas and Yuvraj Singh scored 55 runs. Kedar Jadhav was unbeaten on 21 off 18 balls.
In reply, West Indies battled with Shai Hop (78 off 85), Nicholas Puran (75 off 47) and Chemo Paul (46 off 42). Kohli’s condition was the same for West Indies captain Pollard. Pollard returned with his first ball. Shamika was the wicket. Kuldeep dismissed the West Indies for three consecutive deliveries, including Hope. Shami also took three wickets. Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets.
Fielding level was still poor. The Indian fielders wereted two easy catches. Hope and Puran left early. Hopp’s innings included three sixes and five fours. Puran’s innings comprised of six sixes and four boundaries.
With Rohit Ganguly’s record
Visakhapatnam City
Rohit holds seven ODI hundreds this year Sourav Ganguly and Australian opener David Warner also set a new record. Sachin Tendulkar has scored more than a year In 1998, Tendulkar hit nine hundreds.
Rohit has scored 10 centuries in Tests and ODIs this year. He scored 28 centuries in ODIs. The right-handed batsman – 2379 runs – has hit 77 sixes this year.