Prasidh Krishna rocks Windies as India seal series-clinching ODI win
The pacer claimed 4/12 as India defended a modest total made possible by Suryakumar Yadav’s 64, winning by 44 runs to go 2-0 up in the series
One of the things any robust set-up seeks is the contribution of fringe players to the team’s success. They may not always find a place in the strongest eleven, but evoke quiet confidence in the team management if they deliver when called upon. Pacer Prasidh Krishna offered that on Wednesday, producing excellent figures of 9-3-12-4 to help India successfully defend 237 in the second ODI against West Indies in Ahmedabad, reinforcing their depth in pace bowling.
Krishna’s effort—in his sixth ODI–sealed a 44-run victory, giving India an unassailable 2-0 series lead with a game to play. He was named Player-of-the-Match.
While the West Indies lower-order put up some resistance to take them to 193 after they were 117/6, Krishna capped his display with the final wicket of Kemar Roach.
At the halfway mark, India’s route to victory seemed far from straightforward. They had managed to score just 237, largely due to the contributions of Suryakumar Yadav (64) and KL Rahul (49), who batted at No 4 with Rishabh Pant tested as an opener. They stitched together a stand of 91 for the fourth wicket.
It may not have been enough but for India’s all-round bowling effort spearheaded by Krishna. Having taken the new ball in the opening game, Krishna was brought into the attack in only the eighth over this time. If it was a demotion, it didn’t bother the 25-year-old Karnataka bowler. He struck off his third delivery, getting the ball to bounce a tad higher than Brandon King had expected. All the opener managed was an outside edge to Pant.
Krishna zoned in on an impeccable line and length against the left-handers too, leaving Darren Bravo and stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran with little option but to edge behind. Bravo was caught by Pant while Pooran’s edge was grabbed by Rohit Sharma at first slip.
Jason Holder also fell early, holing out to Deepak Hooda at deep square leg after failing to control a pull against Shardul Thakur.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal bowled beautifully again, reaping the benefits of a spin-friendly surface to return figures of 10-0-45-1. India were bowling second this time, and dew on a warm Ahmedabad evening taking the spinners out of equation was always a factor. It didn’t impact the leggie’s effectiveness at all.
India’s bowling made up for the patchy effort with the bat. When Rahul and Yadav came together, neither had faced a ball. At 43/3 after 12 overs, the run rate was well below par. The next eight overs yielded just 25 runs, but it was more important that they didn’t lose a wicket at that stage.
Rahul finally broke free in the 21st over, welcoming the introduction of spin by pulling a rank short ball from left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein over the midwicket boundary. Alzarri Joseph beat Yadav’s bat a few times, but Rahul had got going by then. He pulled Hosein again for four through midwicket in the 25th over before hitting seamer Odean Smith for successive boundaries in the next over. The highlight, however, was Rahul skipping down the track and smashing a full delivery by Hosein over his head for six.
After doing all the hard work, Rahul’s innings ended when he was run out in a slightly odd fashion. He hit the ball to the deep cover fielder and was set to scamper back to the striker’s end for two. Yadav responded to the call, but Rahul stopped momentarily during the second run. That split second of uncertainty cost him.
Yadav got to his half-century during a 43-run stand for the fifth wicket with Washington Sundar. He, too, didn’t kick on. A top edge off a sweep against Fabian Allen was snaffled by Joseph at short fine leg.
It could have been much worse for India after they lost Sharma, Pant and Virat Kohli cheaply. While India’s promotion of Pant to the top of the order suggested the right intent, the batters struggled early on. Sharma was dismissed for 5, a half-hearted push at a short delivery by Roach going through to wicketkeeper Shai Hope.
Pant was watchful against Roach and Joseph. He left quite a few balls alone while his timing was off with some of his drives. His three boundaries all came off short balls until the brisk pace of Odean Smith took him by surprise. Smith’s portly appearance and short run-up don’t give you an idea of the speeds he can hit. The first ball of the 12th over brought about Pant’s downfall, miscuing a pull to Holder near in the square leg region. Smith wasn’t done yet. In the same over, he lured Kohli into edging a drive outside off-stump to send him back for 18.
