Thiruvananthapuram: Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 139 while skipper Shubman Gill struck 110 as India crushed the West Indies by eight wickets in the first ODI at the Greenfield International Stadium here on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
After the West Indies made 295/7, with Kuldeep Yadav picking a four-wicket haul and controlling run-flow in the middle overs, Rohit Sharma and Gill gave India a quick start with a 74-run opening stand before the latter and Kohli batted the visitors out of the game with a 151-run partnership. Gill walked off to a standing ovation after his 108-ball 110, his tenth ODI hundred featuring 13 fours and a six.
Kohli, who became only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to reach 15,000 ODI runs during the innings, struck 139 not out off 88 balls with ten fours and nine sixes, the most sixes he has hit in an ODI innings. It was his 55th ODI ton and 10th against the West Indies, as India got home with 50 balls to spare.
Kohli reached his fifty off 40 balls and then hit Joseph for three successive fours in the 29th over, the second of them making him the fastest men's batter to 15,000 ODI runs and cross that landmark after Tendulkar. Gill completed his hundred with a drive off Seales at the start of the 31st over.
Put into batting in stifling heat and humidity, West Indies raced to 85/0 in the powerplay as India's seamers struggled for control. Greaves was particularly severe on the pacers, making 56 off 55 balls against them with 10 fours, while the spinners held him to 44 off 53.
Nitish Kumar Reddy's first over cost 18, with Greaves hitting four boundaries, one off a no-ball and another off the free hit. Gurnoor Brar nearly had him in the fourth over, but Rohit Sharma could only get fingertips to the edge at wide slip.
Campbell took on Ravindra Jadeja as soon as spin came on, hitting two sixes over long-on. Greaves cut debutant Naman Dhir for four in the 14th over to reach his fifty and bring up West Indies' first century opening stand against India since 2019.
Kuldeep broke the 135-run stand in the 20th over when Campbell top-edged a sweep to short fine leg. Keacy Carty struggled through a tortured stay before lobbing Prasidh Krishna to mid-on in the 31st over, and Kuldeep had captain Shai Hope caught at backward point.
Greaves reached his maiden ODI hundred with a single through point but soon missed a sweep at a Kuldeep googly, and India's review showed the ball crashing into off stump. Next ball, Jewel Andrew pressed forward to another googly from Kuldeep and edged to Rohit at slip for a golden duck.
Roston Chase and Amir Jangoo rebuilt with a 50-run stand before Prasidh bowled Chase for 24 in the 45th over. Jangoo, who took three fours off Prasidh in the 43rd over, then hit Gurnoor for successive fours and a six to reach his second ODI fifty off 38 balls.
Nitish removed Matthew Forde in the final over, and Jangoo hit unbeaten 58 off 43 balls. But the West Indies fell five runs short of reaching 300, which was utterly inadequate to challenge a rampaging duo of Gill and Kohli.
Brief Scores: West Indies 295/7 in 50 overs (Justin Greaves 101, John Campbell 62; Kuldeep Yadav 4-40, Prasidh Krishna 2-60) lost to India 300/2 in 41.4 overs (Virat Kohli 139 not out, Shubman Gill 110; Roston Chase 1-64, Alzarri Joseph 1-81) by eight wickets. IANS
Also Read: Asian Games: Full Schedule of Indians in Action on September 25