India and West Indies met in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai in what turned out to be a one-sided affair. It was a must-win game for both sides if they wanted to have the advantage of winning the series.
India won the toss and chose to bat first and made two changes. Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav came in for Rishabh Pant and Yuzvendra Chahal. India got a rapid start with Dhawan (38) and Rohit adding 71 runs in 11 overs. Virat Kohli had a short stay at the crease, making 16 and falling to Roach, while Dhawan fell to Keemo Paul.
Then came the partnership of the match between Rohit Sharma (162; 20x4s, 4x6s) and Ambati Rayudu (100; 8x4s, 4x6s), as they added 211 runs for the 3rd wicket. These two took the Windies bowling apart and as soon as the last 12-14 overs were left, both shifted their gears. Rohit fell to Nurse as he completed his 21st ODI hundred and the 7th score of 150 plus, while Rayudu was run out the next ball after reaching his 3rd ODI century.
MS Dhoni made 23, while Jadhav (16*) and Jadeja 7* took India to 377/5 in 50 overs. Kemar Roach picked 2/74, while Ashley Nurse and Keemo Paul took a wicket each, as Jason Holder had no answers to the Rohit-Rayudu massacre of his team’s bowlers.
West Indies batting has shown grit and competition to make 300 plus scores twice in the series. But it was not to be the night for Windies, as Hemraj made 14, while Powell (4) and their best batsman in the series, Shai Hope (0) were out run out. Marlon Samuels (18), Hetmyer (13) and Rovman Powell (0) fell in quick succession to Khaleel Ahmed (3/13), as Windies batting disintegrated to 77/7.
Kuldeep Yadav removed Fabian Allen and Ashley Nurse quickly to make the scoreline 101/8 and finals rites were performed by Kuldeep Yadav, picking up 3/42, while Jason Holder remained unbeaten on 54* runs.
India won the fourth ODI by 224 runs and took the lead in the series.
India now goes into the final ODI at Thiruvananthapuram 2-1 up in the series, with Windies focusing on avoiding another ODI series loss to India.
BRIEF SCORE:
IND 377/5 (R Sharma 162; A RAYUDU 100) defeated WI 153 (J HOLDER 54*; K AHMED 3/13) by 224 runs
