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India v/s West Indies ODI#2 : Rahane, Kohli Star In India’s Comfortable Win In Second ODI At Port-Of-Spain

India v/s West Indies ODI#2 : Rahane, Kohli Star In India’s Comfortable Win In Second ODI At Port-Of-Spain

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane combined to give India a comfortable victory in the second ODI against the West Indies at the Queen’s Oval Park in Port-Of-Spain yesterday. Rahane, coming in as replacement for the rested Rohit Sharma, hit 103 off 104 balls in a solid effort at the top of the order. The pair of Rahane and Dhawan, like the last match, put on a century partnership for the opening stand to get the visitors off to a good start after the match was shortened to 43 overs due to a two-hour rain delay precipitated by early morning showers. After Dhawan fell to spinner Ashley Nurse, it was Kohli who took charge and put on 97 runs with Rahane when Rahane himself fell to a cocky pull off Miguel Cummins. Kohli eventually got 87 runs, with four fours and two sixes in a sizzling effort that almost yielded another century for the Indian captain. He was unfortunate to be caught at long off by Nurse off Alzarri Joseph in the penultimate over, much to the disappointment of the Indian fans egging him on. India got to 310 for five in the end, setting a formidable score for the brittle West Indies lineup.

There was a fluent start with opener Shai Hope scoring 81 off 88 balls, with three sixes and five fours, but the West Indies batsmen eventually folded, managing 205 for 6 to lose the match by 105 runs. The leg spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who is other fresh face besides Rahane on the tour, took three wickets, including the all-important wicket of Hope after an expensive first four overs in which he gave away 32 runs.

India now lead the ODI series 1-0, after the first ODI was washed out at the same venue on Wednesday. The hapless Windies team will be hoping for more sail in their winds as they prepare to take on the Indian team, while the pressure will be on Rahane and Yuvraj in the Indian side to prove themselves on the international stage again.

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Aiman

Keenly interested in sports of all sorts, I am a physicist by training and curious about everything.