Yadav’s hat-trick leads India to victory

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Windies bowled out for 280

VISAKHAPATNAM, India Dec 18, (AP): Kuldeep Yadav’s hat-trick led India to a convincing 107-run win as the West Indies were bowled out for 280 in the second one-day international on Wednesday.

The decider will be played in Cuttack on Sunday. West Indies won the opener by eight wickets in Chennai.

Chasing a mammoth total of 388 the West Indies lost five wickets for 18 runs in the space of 23 balls as Yadav (3-52) snared Alzarri Joseph for a golden duck on his hat-trick ball. On a day of batting feats, he became the sixth bowler to take two or more ODI hat tricks having done so against Australia two years ago.

“It was a perfect day for me, with a second hat-trick,” Yadav said. “We knew they would come hard, 380 was a safe target.”

Mohammed Shami also finished with three wickets (3-39), but he didn’t even need to complete his 10 overs as India controlled the contest after the prolific Rohit Sharma (159 runs) and Lokesh Rahul (102) shared a massive opening stand worth 227 runs in a total of 387-5.

Nicholas Pooran’s whirlwind 75 off 47 balls and Shai Hope’s 78 runs anchored the West Indies innings. But the collapse cost them momentum at a vital time, and No. 8 Keemo Paul’s defiant 46 off 42 balls came far too late.

Earlier, Sharma led the way with his 28th ODI century as he and Rahul put on India’s fourth-highest opening partnership in ODIs. It helped India tally its second-highest ODI total against West Indies, after 418-5 eight years ago.

“We gave away too many runs in the last 20 overs,” Pollard said. “It was a good batting wicket and they got away from us at the backend. But it showed that in order to win against us, India have to score big.”

The imposing total could have been even more daunting if not for a rare golden duck from the prolific Virat Kohli. The owner of 70 hundreds for India, including 43 in ODIs at an average of 60, he at least walked off amused after being caught off a slower short delivery from captain Kieron Pollard in the 38th over.

Put into bat by West Indies again, India got off to a careful start on a good batting surface and the first 50 runs took 58 balls.

Rahul was the more aggressive, striking eight fours and three sixes in reaching 50 off 46 balls. Sharma was steadier, needing 67 to reach his 50 as India passed 100 in the 21st over.

West Indies kept searching for wickets as runs started to arrive quicker for India, with 200 coming up in the 34th over.

Sharma was the first to reach three figures, off 107 balls. It was his seventh ODI hundred in 2019, moving him an equal second with Sourav Ganguly (India) and David Warner (Australia) for most centuries in a calendar year. India great Sachin Tendulkar scored nine in 1998.

His eighth score of 150 or more in one-day cricket is the most for any batsman and he hit 17 fours and five sixes in another fine knock.

Rahul scored his third ODI hundred and first on home soil from 102 balls. He was out straight afterwards and then India immediately lost Kohli.

Sharma and Shreyas Iyer (53) put on 60 runs for the third wicket as India’s momentum resumed and then escalated.

Iyer and Rishabh Pant laid siege to the West Indies bowling with 72 runs off 25 balls for the fourth wicket. Their partnership included 31 runs off the 47th over bowled by Roston Chase (0-48), setting a new record for the most runs scored by an Indian pair in a ODI over.

Pant smacked 39 off 16 balls, including four sixes, and Iyer also smashed four sixes as he raced to a fourth consecutive ODI 50 off 28 balls.

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