Kohli, Bhuvneshwar hand India lead in three-match ODI series against Windies

Indian players congratulating Bhuvneshwar during his 4-wkts haul against West Indies at Port of Spain.
Indian players congratulating Bhuvneshwar during his 4-wkts haul against West Indies at Port of Spain.

Port-of-Spain, Aug 12: Skipper Virat Kohli’s incomparable batting form coupled with Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s four-wicket haul scripted a dominant 59-run win for India in the rain-curtailed second ODI against the West Indies, continuing their unbeaten streak in the Caribbean.
By virtue of the win on Sunday, India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series here. The first ODI between the two sides was washed out.
The third and final ODI will be played here on Wednesday.
India rode on Kohli’s 120 off 125 balls and Shreyas Iyer’s 71 to post a challenging 279 for seven after opting to bat.
West Indies were then set a revised target of 270 off 46 overs under D/L method after rain interrupted the proceedings for the second time.
In pursuit, the hosts were on course at 148 for four before they lost their last six wickets for 62 runs to be bundled out for 210 in 42 overs.
Bhuvneshwar (4/31) was the pick of the bowlers for India, while Mohammed Shami (2/39) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/59) scalped two wickets apiece.
Earlier, coming on to bat in the fourth ball of the innings, Kohli played aggressively as India posted 279 for 7. He hit 14 fours and one six during his elegant knock.
Besides Kohli, Iyer struck third half-century of his career off 68 balls and shared 125 runs with his skipper for the fourth wicket.
West Indies started their chase on a cautious note with Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis (65) stitching 45 runs in 9.3 overs for the opening stand.
Playing his 300th ODI, Gayle achieved a big milestone when he surpassed legendary Brian Lara to become the highest scorer for West Indies in ODI cricket.
Needing seven runs to achieve the feat, Gayle reached the milestone with a single off Khaleel Ahmed in the ninth over.
Gayle, who now has 10,353 runs as compared to Lara’s 10,348, departed soon after achieving the feat, out LBW to Bhuvneshwar in the 13th over. His stay at the crease was a struggle as he managed just 11 runs off 24 balls.
Shai Hope didn’t last long as he played on a Khaleel delivery. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD
India Innings:
Shikhar Dhawan lbw b Cottrell 2
Rohit Sharma c Pooran b Chase 18
Virat Kohli c Roach b Brathwaite 120
Rishabh Pant b Brathwaite 20
Shreyas Iyer b Holder 71
Kedar Jadhav run out (Lewis/Cottrell) 16
Ravindra Jadeja not out 16
Bhuvneshwar c Roach b Brathwaite 1
Mohammed Shami not out 3
Extras: (B-1, NB-2, W-9) 12
Total: (for 7 wickets in 50 overs) 279
Bowling Sheldon Cottrell 10-0-49-1, Kemar Roach 7-0-54-0, Jason Holder 9-0-53-1, Oshane Thomas 4-0-32-0, Roston Chase 10-1-37-1, Carlos Brathwaite 10-0-53-3.
West Indies Innings
(target: 270 runs from 46 overs)
Chris Gayle lbw b Kumar 11
Evin Lewis c Kohli b Kuldeep Yadav 65
Shai Hope b Ahmed 5
Shimron Hetmyer c Kohli b Yadav 18
Nicholas Pooran c Kohli b Kumar 42
Roston Chase c & b Kumar 18
Jason Holder not out 13
Carlos Brathwaite c Mohd Shami b Jadeja 0
Kemar Roach b Kumar 0
Sheldon Cottrell c Jadeja b Mohd Shami 17
Oshane Thomas lbw b Mohd Shami 0
Extras: (B-4, LB-5, NB-1, W-11) 21
Total: (all out in 42 overs) 210
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 8-0-31-4, Mohammed Shami 8-0-39-2, Khaleel Ahmed 7-0-32-1, Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-59-2, Kedar Jadhav 5-0-25-0, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-15-1.