Thanks to Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope brilliant batting , West Indies stunned India by 8 wickets in the first One day international played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and decided to field first. Sheldon Cottrell and Jason Holder bowled tight line and lengths which made life tough for Indian openers. Cottrell got the breakthrough dismissing KL Rahul. Kohli was bowled which hit the inside edge of bat and rattled onto the stumps. At the end of 10 overs, India were struggling at 33 for 2.
Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer played with positive intent against the West Indies spinners. As things looked good for India, Alazzari Joseph got the wicket of Rohit Sharma for 36. Rohit and Iyer added 55 runs for the 3rd wicket. Rishabh Pant came to the crease and found it tough. Iyer looked confident with his stroke play taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries. Pant found the timing with brilliant strokes which put West Indies bowlers under pressure. Iyer reached his fifty off 70 balls while Pant completed his half-century off 49 balls. Joseph got the breakthrough for West Indies dismissing Iyer for 70. Iyer and Pant added 114 runs for the 4th wicket. Soon after Pant perished for well made 71. Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja scored at decent pace adding 59 runs for the 6th wicket. Both were dismissed in the 48th over. Shivam Dube made 9 off 6 balls and helped India post 287 for 8 in 50 overs. For West Indies, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell and Joseph took 2 wickets each.
It was a great start for the Indian team as Deepak Chahar dismissed Sunil Ambris cheaply for 9. Shimron Hetymer and Shai Hope played with caution. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies scored 36 for 1.
After the power play overs, Hetymer and Hope took the attack to Indian bowlers with aggressive intent. Hetymer showed his class to reach his fifty off 50 balls. Hope looked confident making the batting look easy reaching half-century off 92 balls. Hetymer was explosive hitting big strokes which put Indian bowlers under immense pressure. It was an amazing batting display by both Hetymer and Hope who looked comfortable with their batting. The left handed batsmen reached his century off 85 balls. After reaching his century, he continued his stroke play. He was finally dismissed for a brilliant 139 off 106 balls with 11 fours and 7 sixes by Mohammed Shami. Hope and Hetymer added 218 runs for the 2nd wicket. Nicolas Pooran looked edgy at the start of the innings. On the other hand, Hope showed his class and reached his century off 149 balls. Pooran and Hope added unbeaten 62 runs for the 3rd wicket. West Indies won the match by 8 wickets with 13 balls to spare.
West Indies 291 for 2 in 47.5 overs ( Hetymer 139, Shai Hope 102*, Deepak Chahar 1/48, Mohammed Shami 1/57) beat India 287 for 8 in 50 overs ( Rishabh Pant 71, Shreyas Iyer 70, Alazzari Joseph 2/45, Keemo Paul 2/40) by 8 wickets.
West Indies takes a 1-0 lead in the 3 match ODI series. The 2nd ODI will be played at Vizag on 18th December.