Suryakumar, Krishna star in India’s series leading win over West Indies

Ahmedabad : A gritty fifty by Suryakumar Yadav (64 off 83) followed by a dominant bowling performance from Prasidh Krishna (4/12) helped India beat West Indies by 44 runs in the second ODI and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Riding on some fine bowling performances by Odean Smith (2/29), Alzarri Joseph (2/36), West Indies restricted India to 237-9 in 50 overs after winning the toss and opting to field first.

Chasing a comparatively low total, openers Brandon King and Shai Hope gave West Indies a steady start by hitting a few boundaries and scoring 31 after 7 overs.

However, the introduction of Prasidh Krishna in the bowling attack brought great results for India. The young pacer jolted the West Indies innings by dismissing Brandon King (18) and Darren Bravo (1) in successive overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal got the reward of some tidy bowling when he dismissed Hope (27) to give India upper hand in the match. Krishna then came back for a second spell and struck right away by dismissing stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran on 9 to leave West Indies 4 down.

Just two overs later, Shardul Thakur dismissed Jason Holder for 2, leaving visitors in deep trouble at 76-5 after 21 overs. However, Shamarh Brooks continued to play the anchor role from one end and moved into the 40s to keep his side afloat. But, he was sent packing on 43 when Deepak Hooda bagged his maiden ODI wicket to hamper the opposition’s progress.

From there on, Akeal Hosein (34) and Fabian Allen (13) added 42 runs for the 7th wicket before Mohammed Siraj removed the latter. Soon after, Thakur got Hosein to leave West Indies 8 down.

Just when it looked like getting over, all-rounder Odean Smith tonked some lusty blows to keep visitors alive. But the excitement didn’t last too long as Washington Sundar got him on 24 before Krishna trapped Roach plumb in front on 0 to bag his 4th wicket and bowl out West Indies for 193 in 46 overs.

Earlier in the day, India in a surprise move sent Rishabh Pant to open the innings along with skipper Rohit Sharma.However, the opening stand didn’t last long as Kemar Roach dismissed Rohit on 5 in the 3rd over.

Virat Kohli then joined opener Pant at the crease and both batter hit few boundaries, taking India to 37/1 after 10 overs. But Odean Smith jolted the hosts by removing both the batters — Kohli (18) and Pant (18) in the same over.

At 43-3 after 11.6 overs, India were in a spot of bother but KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav rescued India from the trouble. During the process, Rahul also got a reprieve by visitors. Kemar Roach, who was brought back into the attack, replacing Odean Smith, induced an edge from Rahul but Shai Hope dropped a sitter behind the wicket.

West Indies introduced spin for the first time in the 21st over but it didn’t trouble the Indian batters that much as duo of Rahul and Suryakumar they rotated strikes well and hit boundaries at regular intervals too, helping hosts go past 100 in the 26th over.

After spending enough time in the middle to assess the conditions, Rahul shifted gears and hit a few glorious shots, inching closer towards his fifty but a misunderstanding in running between the wicket resulted in him falling short of his crease on 49 and the 91-run stand for the fourth wicket was broken.

However, Suryakumar continued his well-paced knock to score his second ODI half-century, becoming the first player to cross 30 in each of his first six ODI innings. He needed to carry on and bat through to take India to a respectable total but Fabian Allen gave West Indies the big breakthrough by dismissing the batter in the 39th over.

Soon, India lost another wicket of Washington Sundar (24), who came down the track and looked to go over long-on but picked out the tall Alzarri Joseph at the edge of the boundary, leaving India to 192-6 at 41.6 overs. From there on, it was Deepak Hooda’s responsibility to finish well for India. He hit a much-needed boundary for India in the 45th over, to help India go past the 200 run mark.

But, Alzarri Joseph picked two quick wickets of Shardul Thakur (8) and Mohammed Siraj (3) to leave India 8 down. Deepak Hooda, the last remaining hope of India, tried to up the ante but was caught by Akeal Hosein at the deep cover region in the over bowled by Jason Holder.

In the end Yuzvendra Chahal (11) and Prasidh Krishna (0) remained not out as West Indies restricted India to 237-9 after 50 overs.

Brief scores: India 237-9 in 50 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 64, KL Rahul 49; Odean Smith 2/29, Alzarri Joseph 2/36) beat West Indies 193 all out in 46 overs (Shamarh Brooks 44, Akeal Hosein 34; Prasidh Krishna 4/12, Shardul Thakur 2/41) by 44 runs