India vs Windies 2018: Ruthless India Dismantle Windies In Fifth ODI To Seal Series 3-1

India stamped their authority over Windies by thrashing them by 9 wickets in fifth and final ODI to seal the series 3-1. 

The way Windies had fared in the first three ODIs, not many would have predicted such a meek end to this series.  In the first ODI, they scored 323 but ended up losing the game. In the following game, they nearly chased down India’s 321 but the game ended in a thrilling tie. The third game finally saw them beat India as they thrashed the hosts by 43 runs. However, they failed to sustain the momentum in the last two ODIs.

In the penultimate game, the hosts inflicted a crushing 224-run defeat on Windies. And the visitors’ fortunes did not change in the fifth game either.

Jason Holder’s decision to bat against their fancied opponents turned out to be a poor decision as the Virat Kohli-led side bowled out their opponents for a paltry 104. This was Windies’ lowest ODI total against India.

With the ball swinging early on, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave their side a dream start. Kieran Powell edged one from Kumar behind the stumps to depart for a duck.  Bumrah then sent back Shai Hope packing in the next over to leave Windies reeling at 2-2.

Out-of-form Marlon Samuels struggled to get going before hitting Khaleel Ahmed for a four and a six in the bowler’s first over to settle down. Samuels’ stroke-making was perhaps a reply to Khaleel’s send-off in the last game. But before the veteran batsman could inflict further damage on India, Virat Kohli introduced Ravindra Jadeja and it completely changed the game. In his very first spell, Jadeja struck twice to dismiss Samuels and the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer.

Khaleel then accounted for makeshift opener Rovman Powell and Jason Holder to reduce the visitors to 87 for 7. Just like the fourth ODI, Holder once again tried his best to guide his team to a respectable total by scoring 25 off 33.  Ravindra Jadeja then ran through the lower-order as the home side bowled out the tourists for 104 in 31.5 overs.

In reply, the Men in Blue were off to a poor start with Shikhar Dhawan once again failing to deliver. However, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stitched together an unbeaten partnership of 99 runs to take India home. Rohit, who already had two centuries to his name in the series, went on to compile a fine fifty while Kohli played the role of the second fiddle.

Brief scores:

India (Rohit Sharma 63*, Virat Kohli 33;  Oshane Thomas 1-33 ) beat Windies 104 (Jason Holder 25, Marlon Samuels 24; Ravindra Jadeja 4-34) by 9 wickets.