MANCHESTER: Captain Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni played knocks of 72 and 56 runs respectively to guide India to a score of 268 runs for the loss of seven wickets against West Indies in Manchester in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
After opting to bat first, India lost its opener Rohit Sharma (18) pretty early in the innings. He was dismissed by Kemar Roach in the sixth over.
The right-hander looked to have missed the ball but wicket-keeper Shai Hope appealed for caught-behind, on-field umpire adjudged it not out but West Indies decided to review it. There was confusion whether the ball hit the pad or the bat. The snick-o-meter indicated there was a clear spike, so the third umpire decided to overturn the decision and rule him out. Skipper Virat Kohli came out to bat next, and along with KL Rahul steadied the innings for Men in Blue as the duo stitched together a partnership of 69 runs, but as soon as India started to gain an upper hand in the match, Rahul (48) was sent back to the pavilion by Jason Holder in the 21st over, reducing India to 98/2.
Vijay Shankar (14) and Kedar Jadhav (7) failed to impress with the bat as both the batsmen were dismissed pretty early in their innings. Their dismissals left India in a spot of bother. MS Dhoni joined Kohli in the middle and the duo played cautiously to move the scoreboard along. Kohli brought up his half-century, recording his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score in the ongoing World Cup. Kohli and Dhoni put up a 40-run stand but India was given a big blow in the 39th over as Kohli (72) was finally dismissed by Holder, reducing India to 180/5. Hardik Pandya joined Dhoni in the middle and they looked to play with some restraint initially but after the 42nd over, Pandya decided to change gears and play some attacking shots.
In the final five overs, both Pandya and Dhoni went after the Windies bowlers and the duo stitched together a partnership of 70 runs. Pandya (46) was sent back to the pavilion by Sheldon Cottrell in the penultimate over. But Dhoni ensured the team goes past the 260-run mark. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 56. Kohli was the top-scorer for India as he played a knock of 72 runs whereas Roach was the highest wicket-taker for Windies as he scalped three wickets.
(Agencies)
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