Every single cricket fan at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati got the money’s worth as they witnessed a sheer masterclass from India’s 2 best batsmen. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stole the show and made a mockery of the opposition. Windies has absolutely no clue and they were blown away by the top 2 ranked batsmen in ODIs.
Batting first after losing the toss, the Windies innings was filled with ups and downs. They didn’t have a good start but the opener Kieran Powell’s quickfire 51 off 39 balls gave them momentum. The middle-order didn’t have a substantial contribution apart from Shimron Hetmyer.
The left-hander held the innings together and with limited support, ended up scoring 106 from just 78 balls. Some valuable contributions from the lower order took Windies to 322/8. The Indian seamers struggled as all of them went for more than 6 an over. Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers who returned with figures of 41/3 from 10 overs.
In reply, India lost Shikhar Dhawan early for just 4. But it was the sole bright spot for the visitors in the whole innings. Virat Kohli took matters into his own hands and took the bowlers to the cleaners. Rohit Sharma was happy to play second fiddle to the skipper who was flourishing at the other end.
The two right-handers were flawless in the partnership of 246 runs. Kohli notched up his 36th ODI ton and finished at 140 from 107 balls with 21 fours and 2 sixes. Rohit carried on to make an unbeaten 152 from 117 balls that included 15 fours and 8 sixes. Ambati Rayudu, who came out to bat at No.4 made 22 not out as India cruised past the target in the 43rd over and took a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Match Summary
India won the toss and opted to bowl first
Windies: 322/8 in 50 overs
Shimron Hetmyer 106 (78), Kieran Powell 51 (39)
Yuzvendra Chahal 41/3 (10), Ravindra Jadeja 66/2 (10)
India: 326/2 in 42.1 overs
Rohit Sharma 152* (117), Virat Kohli 140 (107)
Devendra Bishoo 72/1 (10), Oshane Thomas 83/1 (9)
India won by 8 wickets
Player of the Match: Virat Kohli
Twitterati fell in love with Kohli-Rohit
Double Dhamaka. Kohli and Rohit made it look very easy. Congratulations @ImRo45 on your 6th 150+ score, the first man to do so. Tremendous achievement. #IndvWI
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 21, 2018
Batting Is Not This Easy. Trust Me. Don’t believe what you’ve seen from Kohli and Rohit today….unbelievable. Unreal. #IndvWI
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 21, 2018
A Virat-Rohit masterclass does it again!
India's star batters put on a 246-run partnership as Windies' 322/8 is chased down in Guwahati with 47 balls remaining for an eight wicket win! #INDvWI scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/IT7uA5nimO pic.twitter.com/xlOloooxFR
— ICC (@ICC) October 21, 2018
Congratulations Team India on a comprehensive victory. Kohli’s hunger and consistency is extraordinary and Rohit Sharma is all class, a treat to watch for the wonderful crowd in Guwahati #IndvWI pic.twitter.com/BP2yGSkFuR
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 21, 2018
Rohit Sharma finishes off things in style. #TeamIndia win by 8 wickets. @ImRo45 remains unbeaten on 152.#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/axXPZkGrQ7
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 21, 2018
What a partnership it was from the ICC ODI world rank number 1 and 2! When these two play together there's no stopping them! Two great centuries and one massive partnership! @ImRo45 @imVkohli #INDvWI
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 21, 2018
Watching @imVkohli and @ImRo45 bat together, is there any better sight in the world? #INDvWI
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) October 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/ImRahulSharma3/status/1054018600275755008
https://twitter.com/tiwarymanoj/status/1054018536547536897
Indian cricket so fortunate to have one batsman every generation since the 70s to have extra ordinary ability and insatiable hunger for runs. Virat is one for this generation.
👏👏👏🙏#INDvWI— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 21, 2018
Rohit Sharma has now completed 4,000 runs in India in international cricket – in just 87 innings – second fastest batsman to do so.
Fastest: Sunil Gavaskar (86 innings)#INDvWI— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) October 21, 2018
Watching @imVkohli and @ImRo45 at the crease makes batting look so effortless; but I know hard these 2 players work at their game #masterclass @BCCI #INDvWI
— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) October 21, 2018
What a year he is having @imVkohli wonder if he will break Sachin’s ODI 100s record in the world cup. If that happens the cup is made for ICC because India will inevitably do well. Well played yet again today.@vikrantgupta73 @cricketaakash
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) October 21, 2018
– 36th ODI century in 204 innings for Virat Kohli
– Sachin Tendulkar reached his 36th century in 311 innings (in Nov 2003)#IndvWI#IndvsWI— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) October 21, 2018
Kohli's century..
60th in International cricket
36th in ODIs
31st as captain in Internationals
29th at No.3 position in ODIs
22nd when chasing in ODIs
14th as captain in ODIs
8th in 2018 in Internationals#IndvWI— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 21, 2018
8th century for Virat Kohli in 300+ chases in ODI cricket. Next best: 4 centuries by Kumar Sangakkara. #INDvWI
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) October 21, 2018
Virat Kohli now has 22 hundreds in chases only.
The whole West Indies XI has a combined tally of 15 hundreds in ODIs (batting first or second).#INDvWI— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) October 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/ImRahulSharma3/status/1054014410220621824
@ImRo45 too gets to his century!! What a 💯!! Top innings !! #INDvsWI
— Mithun Manhas (@MithunManhas) October 21, 2018
Ek sher to dusra sava sher. What a display of batting from @imvkohli and @imro45. Keep the runs flowing.🙌🏻 #INDvWI @BCCI
— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) October 21, 2018
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