Mumbai: Rohit Sharma has a penchant for scoring ‘daddy hundreds’ and his whirlwind 162 on Monday powered India to a massive 224-run win over West Indies in the fourth ODI here at the Brabourne Stadium. With this victory, India have taken an unassailable 2-1 lead with the final ODI to be played at Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
As Virat Kohli (16) suffered a rare failure, Rohit put his hand up and scored his seventh 150+ score - the most by any batsman in ODIs - and shared a 211-run stand for the third wicket with Ambati Rayudu (100) to guide India to an imposing total of 377/5.
The chase of over 7.50 runs per over was never going to be easy, even on a flat deck with short boundaries. The Windies top order brought their own downfall with a couple of run-outs and left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed later produced a lively spell (3/13) to bundle the visitors out for 153 in 36.2 overs.
Brought in as first change in the 10th over, the Rajasthan speedster seemed to relish the evening conditions that assisted swing bowling to bag three wickets in his first three overs. The Windies were reeling at 56/6 in 14 overs. His scalps included danger-man Shimron Hetmyer and seasoned Marlon Samuels. From there, it was only a matter of time for India to complete the formality. Only skipper Jason Holder showed some resistance with unbeaten 54. Kuldeep Yadav also took three wickets.
Kohli said India were back on track. “We ticked all the boxes; clinical in all three departments. We were put under a bit of pressure in the third ODI, but we bounced back. Rayudu has taken his opportunity with both hands and we need to back him till the 2019 World Cup. He reads the game well and he bats with intelligence. Khaleel is an exciting talent. If the pitch has something to offer, he can extract something. Happy to see him make the ball talk,” added Kohli.
Kohli’s early exit — caught behind off Kemar Roach — put the onus on Rohit who reached his half-century in 60 balls before stepping on the gas. He scored the next 50 runs in 38 balls. Most of Rohit’s runs came square of the wicket. Rayudu played some attacking strokes and used his feet smartly.
Scorecard
India: R. Sharma c Hemraj b Nurse 162, S. Dhawan c K. Powell b Paul 38, V. Kohli c Hope b Roach 16, A. Rayudu run out (Allen) 100, M.S. Dhoni c Hemraj b Roach 23, K. Jadhav (not out) 16, R. Jadeja (not out) 7. Extras (b6, lb1, w7, nb1) 15. Total (for five wickets in 50 overs) 377.
FoW: 1-71, 2-101, 3-312, 4-344, 5-355.
Bowling: Roach 10-0-74-2, Holder 9-0-62-0, Nurse 8-0-57-1, Paul 10-0-88-1, R. Powell 4-0-23-0, Allen 8-0-52-0, Samuels 1-0-14-0.
West Indies: C. Hemraj c Rayudu b Kumar 14, K. Powell run out (Kohli) 4, S. Hope run out (Yadav) 0, M. Samuels c Rohit b Ahmed 18, S. Hetmyer lbw b Ahmed 13, R. Powell b Ahmed 1, J. Holder (not out) 54, F. Allen c Sharma b Yadav 10, A. Nurse c Sharma b Yadav 8, K. Paul st Dhoni b Jadeja 19, K. Roach b Yadav 6. Extras (lb4, w2) 6. Total (all out, 36.2 overs) 153.
FoW: 1-20, 2-20, 3-20, 4-45, 5-47, 6-56, 7-77, 8-101, 9-132.
Bowling: Kumar 5-1-30-1 (w2), Bumrah 8-1-25-0, Ahmed 5-0-13-3, Jadeja 10-1-39-1, Yadav 8.2-0-42-3
