India sealed their 11th consecutive bilateral ODI series win over West Indies after winning the second match of the three-match series by 44 runs on Wednesday (February 9) in Ahmedabad.
With Kieron Pollard out due to a niggle, stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran won the toss and opted to bowl first hoping for dew factor to kick in during the evening which could ease out the chase for the visitors.
West Indies' pacers backed the decision by reducing India to 43/3 in 12 overs with captain Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli back in the pavilion. Vice-captain KL Rahul (49) added a partnership of 94 runs with Suryakumar Yadav (64) before he got run out due to a misunderstanding.
India eventually finished with 237/9 on the board with Deepak Hooda scoring 29 as Odean Smith and Alzarri Joseph finished with two wickets each.
West Indies' reply with the bat never took off as India's pace bowlers led by Prasidh Krishna struck at regular intervals to keep denting the visitors. Shamarah Brooks (44), Akeal Hosein (34) and Odean Smith (24) got off to starts but could not bat through long enough to pose a threat to the hosts.
Krishna finished with incredible figures of 4/12 in nine overs, while Shardul Thakur took two wickets. Remaining wickets were shared by rest of the bowlers as India sealed an impressive win while defending a moderate total.
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In the closing stages, Rohit Sharma, who was a bit agitated with Odean Smith striking couple of huge blows, was seen scolding Yuzvendra Chahal who was taking it easy to change his position. The Indian captain hilariously asked the leg-spinner why is he being so slow and then told him to run to his position on the boundary. The duo are great friends and often share banter off the field.
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The final match of the ODI series, a dead rubber, will be played on Friday at the same venue before the teams move to Kolkata for the T20I series.
