West Indies registered a convincing 8 wickets victory over India in the 1st ODI in Chennai om Sunday. Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope put up a record 218 runs stand for the second wicket to make it way too comfortable for the hosts. This was highest ever total chased by any team at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.
Earlier, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to bowl first. India are highly dependent on their top three to fire but didn’t happen this time. KL Rahul(6 off 15), Virat Kohli(4 off 4) and Rohit Sharma(36 off 56) failed to take it forward as the hosts were struggling at 80/3 at one stage.
A struggling Rishabh Pant(71 off 69 balls) and Shreyas Iyer(70 off 88 balls) put up a 114 runs stand to bring back India in the game. After their dismissal, Ravindra Jadeja(21 off 21) and Kedar Jadhav(40 off 35) played some shots and took the Indian total to 287 runs in the course of 50 overs.
Indian bowlers striked early as they dismissed Sunil Ambris on a personal score of 9. Shai Hope(102 off 151 balls) and Shimron Hetmyer(139 off 106 balls) took the game forward and changed the complexion of the game, courtesy 218 runs stand, which is the highest by any West Indian pair for the second wicket.
Indian fielding looked scratchy yet again as Rohit Sharma dropped Shai Hope and Shreyas Iyer dropped Shimron Hetmyer, which could have made the difference in the game.
Mohammed Shami dismissed Hetmyer in the 39th over but it proved to be too late to encash on the opportunity. Nicholas Pooran played a cameo of 29 off 23 balls to take his team to a comfortable victory and eke ahead 1-0 in the three match ODI series.
Here are the best reactions from social media-
India under virat in last 4 Odis at home
LLLL
First Indian captain to loose 4 Odis at home consecutively#kingkohli#INDvWI
— ? (@_am_fine_) December 15, 2019
So once again I repeat my words,India can’t win ODI without the contribution of Rohit and Virat except those rarest wins.#INDvWI
— R.B. (@rahulB_59) December 15, 2019
Missing Dhoni’s captaincy #INDvWI
— satz (@satz59948761) December 15, 2019
What a stunning innings it was from @SHetmyer, one of the best played by an overseas batsman in India in recent times and @shaidhope complimented him so beautifully and this is a really well deserved win for WI. #IndvWI pic.twitter.com/c5ArFxhKfA
— Aryan Rathore (@imaryanrathore) December 15, 2019
Most Runs in 2019 ~
Hope has some hope ?#IndvWI pic.twitter.com/VhsUPmGxon
— Rohit Sharma FC (@ImRoFC) December 15, 2019
Very impressed by Shimron Hetmyer, showed great maturity and turned the game firmly in WI’s favour. Great support from Shai Hope as well and this is a very deserving win for the West Indies. Promises to be a very exciting series #IndvWI pic.twitter.com/9hjx3jHdTo
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 15, 2019
Highest scores in chases v Ind in Ind:
160 – Dilshan, Rajkot, 2009
158 – Strauss, Bengaluru, 2011
151* – Jayasuriya, Mumbai, 1997
149* – Chanderpaul, Nagpur, 2007
139 – HETMYER, CHENNAI, todayPS: Dilshan’s 160 was also on this same day, 10 years ago. #junaidstatsman #Cricket
— Junaid Iqbal (@IqbalJunaid6280) December 15, 2019
An ODI game in Chennai and not a single wicket to spinners. Who would’ve thought? Top stuff from Hetmeyer and Hope. Radically Different ways of succeeding on the same surface. A knockout series for India now. #IndvWI
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 15, 2019
So so happening signs for West Indies cricket, eking their way back in International cricket.
The record 218 runs stand between Hetmyer and Hope reminded me of good old days of an aggressive Yuvraj Singh and a silent yet effective Rahul Dravid.#INDvWI
— Heimynames?Rishabh (@Rishabhprakash4) December 15, 2019
