4.58pm Three matches done, two to go. Will India experiment a little with their XI? Can West Indies hit back somehow? Will we have any more rain? Answers to all these questions on Sunday. Until then, goodbye!
MS Dhoni, the Player of the Match: "It's like wine" [when asked about getting better with age]. "Top order has been doing the bulk of the scoring in the last one-one and a half years, so it felt good to get an opportunity and score runs. I think it was the nature of the wicket. Variable bounce, and at times the pace. It was important to have a partnership at that stage. In my mind I had 250, and we got there, with Kedar batting with me at the end. It was something the bowlers could defend, but they had to bowl well. It's important [to instruct and mentor spinners]. Kuldeep has played a lot of games, IPL, T20 format. When it comes to international cricket, it's important to know where to use your variety. Once he plays 5-10 games, he will realise it himself. The good thing is, compared to the last game, he bowled very well today."
Virat Kohli: "I think it was a clinical performance again. Early on there was quite a bit of moisture, it was a good toss to win, and they bowled really well. It was a good batting effort to get us to 250. The wicket played much better in the second innings. The bowlers created pressure and got breakthroughs at the right moments. It's about putting your hand up at the right time, its about how many people can stand up and put in those performances. We'll surely look into [making changes]. We have quite a few players who haven't had a game in a while."
Jason Holder: "Bowlers did a hell of a job. We put in a real good effort in the first 10 overs. If there is any criticism, we gave away too many runs in the back end. We've got to come hard, we've got to address our batting. In the end we've got to bat well."
While we wait for the presentation, some startling stats: Kedar Jadhav now has 10 wickets in ODIs at an average of 20.80 and a strike rate of 23.5.
VDG: "So many good contributions, it would be difficult to pick a particular performance to select the M.O.M. My guess would be Dhoni." -- Would be my guess too.
Rahul Oak: "A score of 250 worked against this West Indian team, but India would have struggled against stronger opposition with their slow-and-steady batting approach, especially with wickets in hand." -- Another team might have chased down 252, and there have been other occasions when India's slow build-up play has cost them, but today the conditions really were quite challenging, so the approach was merited.
4.38pm India go 2-0 up. An excellent performance after a bit of a rocky start in challenging conditions. West Indies, you'll have to admit, lacked that extra bit of quality they needed to make their early advantage count. But from the 10-over mark of India's innings, when Jason Holder pushed his field back and didn't press for wickets when Ajinkya Rahane and Yuvraj Singh were finding it hard to score, the visitors knew they just had to see out that little tough period to get back ahead. They took a while to even get their run rate up to four an over, but fireworks from MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav in the last ten overs ensured they'd set a challenging target.
A couple of decent partnerships in West Indies' innings - the Hope brothers initially, and then Jason Mohammed and Rovman Powell - but neither extended far enough to really push India's bowling. Lots of positives for India - new-ball swing for Bhuvneshwar and Umesh, two excellent bouncers from Pandya, another lovely display of drift and wristspin from Kuldeep, and a welcome three-for for Ashwin, who has not been among the wickets of late in ODIs.
KOK Williams b Jadhav 1 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Time for some fun. Kedar Jadhav into the attack.
END OF OVER:38 | 1 Run 1 Wkt | WI: 158/9 (94 runs required from 12 overs, RR: 4.15, RRR: 7.83)
- Devendra Bishoo4 (11b)
- Kesrick Williams1 (1b)
- Ravichandran Ashwin10-1-28-3
- Kuldeep Yadav10-1-41-3
Kesrick Williams in at No. 11, on debut.
ML Cummins lbw b Ashwin 1 (4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 25.00
END OF OVER:37 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | WI: 157/8 (95 runs required from 13 overs, RR: 4.24, RRR: 7.30)
- Miguel Cummins1 (1b)
- Devendra Bishoo4 (9b)
- Kuldeep Yadav10-1-41-3
- Ravichandran Ashwin9-1-27-2
Miguel Cummins. Two left-handers at the crease now. Slip and leg slip in.
JN Mohammed lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 40 (61b 4x4 0x6) SR: 65.57
AmericanCricket: "To those who were complaining about India's 'slow' run rate earlier. This shows the importance of keeping wickets intact regardless of the run rate. When you need to score, like the West Indies do now, they won't have the firepower to back up their intentions."
END OF OVER:36 | 2 Runs | WI: 153/7 (99 runs required from 14 overs, RR: 4.25, RRR: 7.07)
- Devendra Bishoo2 (7b)
- Jason Mohammed39 (58b)
- Ravichandran Ashwin9-1-27-2
- Kuldeep Yadav9-1-37-2