Kochi: First the Indian spinners, including Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin bowled brilliantly to restrict West Indies to 211, and later Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scored sparkling half-centuries to help India beat the Windies by six wickets with 88 balls to spare in the opening ODI of the three-match series, here today.
Batting first, West Indies were off to a disastrous start as Chris Gayle ran himself out in the very first over and though they recovered quickly from the early loss as opener Johnson Charles joined hands with Marlon Samuels to put on a solid 65-run partnership for the second wicket, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina exploited the low and slow conditions of the Nehru Stadium wicket effectively to bundle out West Indies for a meagre 211 in 48.5 overs.
Later, Kohli smashed 86 off 84 balls, while Rohit made 72 off 81 balls to help India chase down the target with ease in 35.2 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Chasing the target, India however to received a jolt early in the form of Shikhar Dhawan (5). Dhawan departed in the fourth over as he edged Jason Holder to Johnson Charles behind the stumps with scoreboard reading 17. But then Rohit and Kohli joined hands and shared a 133-run second wicket stand that came off just 130 deliveries to lay the foundation for an easy win.
Rohit brought up his 19th ODI fifty off 53 balls as India reached the 100-run mark in 15.3 overs. Kohli was not to be left behind as he reached his half century in 58 balls with a single off Dwayne Bravo in the 24th over.
Kohli also brought up his 5000 runs in the 50-over format in just 114 innings and became the joint quickest to reach the landmark along with West Indian batting legend Viv Richards.
Earlier, Jadeja finished with three for 34, while Raina took three for 37 to rock the West Indies batting line-up. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also chipped in with two wickets giving away 42 runs.
