Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar set up easy India victory over Windies

On the eve of the first ODI, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard’s directive to the team didn’t ask for much. He just wanted them to bat the entire 50 overs. It ended up a tall ask at the Motera ground on Sunday, bundled out as they were for 176 in 43.5 overs.

The target was never going to be a matter of concern for India. Rohit Sharma led the way, scoring a 51-ball 60 in his first game as full-time ODI captain. The chase was completed in 28 overs with six wickets in hand, Suryakumar Yadav (34*) and debutant Deepak Hooda (26*) sharing an unbeaten partnership of 62.

Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar were the chief architects of the victory. Chahal took 4/49 and Sundar claimed 3/30 in just his second ODI. The temptation to reunite Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav was resisted on Sunday. Sharma indicated in the lead-up that he may not rush Kuldeep back after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury. The left-arm wrist-spinner though wouldn’t have minded bowling on a track with copious assistance for spin.

But for Jason Holder and Fabian Allen’s 78-run partnership for the eighth wicket, the game would have been wrapped up even earlier. The visitors need to make improvements on a number of fronts if they are to provide more resistance in the next two ODIs in Ahmedabad. They were involved in a closely-contested T20 series against England at home until a week ago, allowing them time just one full-fledged practice session before the game.

“We’ve got to take stock of not being able to bat 50 overs. We have to dig deeper and get better with techniques. It has been a difficult last three days,” Pollard said at the presentation.

The Windies dug themselves into a hole against spin to be left tottering at 79/7. Holder’s growing stature as a crisis man gained further heft as he contributed 57 in a solid partnership with Allen. The innings contained four sixes, again demonstrating the towering player’s reach and power to clear the boundary. He didn’t have the freedom to do so often enough considering their precarious position.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj provided the first breakthrough in the third over, claiming Shai Hope’s wicket before the spinners took over. Off-spinner Sundar made an immediate impact on return with twin strikes in his third over. He missed the T20 World Cup in October-November due to a finger injury while Covid kept him out of the recent ODI series in South Africa.

“It was extremely disappointing to miss the T20 World Cup. But there are two World Cups lined up in the next 18-20 months. I was just trying to improve during my time out,” Sundar said after the game.

Brandon King was the first to succumb to spin. The ball didn’t quite come on as a tuck to the leg side went to a diving Suryakumar Yadav at midwicket. Darren Bravo was dismissed four balls later. Sundar had spun the ball past left-hander Bravo’s outside edge a few times. A straighter delivery, whether it was natural variation or fully intended, rapped him on the pads and led to his downfall. As has been the case right through Bravo’s frustrating career, there were a couple of eye-catching boundaries but little substance otherwise.

Sundar bowls a flatter trajectory in general, but mixed up his speeds well to draw optimum help from the surface. Chahal was introduced into the attack in the 20th over, replacing Sundar after the Tamil Nadu all-rounder returned figures of 6-1-21-2 in his opening spell. The leggie could have been brought on a bit earlier and in tandem with Sundar, but it didn’t matter.

It took just three balls for Chahal to get into the act and unfurl his bag of variations. He took out Nicholas Pooran to claim his 100th ODI wicket before outfoxing Pollard with a wrong ’un first up. With the West Indies four wickets down, restraint from Pollard early on was the need of the hour. What he offered instead was an expansive drive and ample space between bat and pad to be bowled.

“It is extremely important to pick wickets in the middle overs. It opens up the opposition’s lower-order by around the 35th over,” Sundar said.

Shamarh Brooks and Akeal Hosein fell shortly after to Chahal and pacer Prasidh Krishna respectively. Although Holder and Allen staged a mini-recovery, it was never going to be enough.