Commanding Kohli drives India to series win

Virat Kohli stroked a commanding, unbeaten 111 to lead India to a series-clinching eight-wicket win over Windies in the fifth and final One-Day International at Sabina Park in Kingston on Thursday.

Responding to the West Indies’ modest total of 205 for 9 after Jason Holder chose to bat first in Jamaica, Kohli ensured the target was reached in the 37th over to give India a 3-1 series triumph.

The Windies had come into this match with the opportunity to square the series after pulling off an 11-run win in the third ODI, with India failing to reach a target of 190 on that occasion.

In this match, Kohli walked in with India 5 for 1 after the first over, Alzarri Joseph having removed Shikhar Dhawan early. The Indian captain though, immediately set about dismantling the bowling. He put on 79 for the second wicket with Ajinkya Rahane before the opener fell lbw to Devendra Bishoo for 39 – it was his first score of under 50 in the series.

Dinesh Karthik joined Kohli in the 19th over and was prepared to play the supporting role to a rampant Kohli, his 28th ODI century coming up off 108 deliveries with one six and 12 fours.

Karthik reached an unbeaten 50 in an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 122 just before Kohli finished the match with his second six off Roston Chase.

Earlier, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav shared seven wickets in restricting the West Indies after the home team was well placed at 76 for 1 in the 16th over.

Seeking victory to earn a share of the honours from a campaign in which they entered as huge underdogs, Windies’ only substantial contributions came from the Hope brothers, Shai and Kyle. Shai top-scored with 51, his second half-century of the series, while Kyle contributed 46 at the top of the order.

Holder and Rovman Powell, the all-rounders, got to 36 and 31 respectively, but failed to capitalise on decent starts as India tightened the screws with disciplined bowling from the two frontline seamers towards the end of the innings.

Shami finished with 4 for 48 while Umesh completed his ten-over spell with 3 for 53.

It was Hardik Pandya, who made the first breakthrough. Brought on to facilitate a switching of ends by Shami and Yadav, he induced a loose drive from Evin Lewis to have him caught at mid-off.

Shai joined Kyle and the pair attempted to accelerate on a pitch that appeared much better for batting than for the last two games at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Kyle took a particular liking to Umesh, smashing him for consecutive boundaries. But the bowler had the last laugh as Kyle found Dhawan at midwicket attempting another boundary in the same over.

Chase's below-par series with the bat continued when he was trapped lbw to the very next delivery from Umesh and it was left to Holder to give the innings some momentum. He dominated a 48-run fifth-wicket partnership with Shai, only to fall to Shami at the start of his second spell.

While the pacers got all the glory, the two frontline spinners were equally impactful with their miserly returns even though they didn’t pick up any wickets. Ravindra Jadeja gave away just 27 runs from his ten overs, while Kuldeep Yadav conceded just 36 runs.

India will conclude the brief visit to the Caribbean on Sunday when it takes on the Windies in a one-off Twenty20 International at the same venue.