Virat Kohli Scores 81 As India Win Easily
India easily chased down the revised score of 183 that they needed after inclement weather spoilt the show for the smattering of fans who had gathered to watch the second ODI at the Queen’s Park Oval.
It rained twice as India looked to chase down 241 for a win, with the second rain break causing enough delay to reduce the number overs to 37. The target was modified to 183 through the Duckworth-Lewis system and with the Indians having already got to 100 for the loss of only one wicket at the end of the 22nd, the rest of the runs proved to be a cakewalk.
Virat Kohli was the star of the show for the Indian side but to forget the efforts of Parthiv Patel with the bat would be blasphemous. While wicket-keeping, Patel had earlier fluffed up a couple of chances and allowed a few to pass through that had not endeared him to the bowler, Harbhajan Singh. In short, he had been under some pressure going into bat, having also failed in the last game at the opening slot.
Patel smacked a couple of four and sixes in his 64-ball essay that brought him 56 runs. His stand with Kohli not only raised 120 runs but also allowed his partner to play with the freedom that he is usually famous for. Kohli made 81 and by the time he was dismissed, the Indians were 10 short of the target with plenty to spare.
West Indies would be ruing the fact that they allowed so many runs in the first session of the Indian innings before it started leaking from the heaven. With India getting to 100 for the loss of only one wicket, it meant that the target reduction would favour the tourists and there is where the West Indians missed out. Captain Darren Sammy seemed to have erred in bowling himself at a go and finishing off his 10 overs when a spell from Devendra Bishoo could have earned him a wicket or two and stiffened the target.
However, the real part of the blame should probably lie on the West Indian batting which collapsed for the second game in a row to be bowled out for 240 – about 30 short of where they should have actually got.
Kohli won the man of the match award.
