India vs West Indies, 4th ODI: 3 reasons why West Indies lost the match

India completed a comprehensive win over Windies today in the fourth ODI played at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. The mammoth 224-run win hands the home team 2-1 advantage in the five-match series with one game to go. After the flurry of boundaries from Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu in the first innings, Indian bowlers allowed no chance of a comeback to the Caribbean team.

Captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on the flat Mumbai track. Indian team strengthened its batting after the debacle in the last match and added Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja to the playing XI in place of Rishabh Pant and Yuzvendra Chahal. Windies team gave an opportunity to Keemo Paul and dropped Obed McCoy from the side.

The opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan made a confident start and set the platform for a big total with the stand of 71 runs in 11.5 overs. Windies managed to send back both Dhawan and Kohli inside the first 17 overs but achieved little success after that. Rohit Sharma, who looked set for his fourth double century in ODIs, was dismissed on 162 (137). Batting at number four, Ambati Rayudu 100 (81) stitched a 211-run partnership with Rohit to help India reach the final total of 377/5 in 50 overs.

Facing the mountain of runs, Windies batting lineup bottled under the pressure. Their top three batsmen walked back to the pavilion even before the first six overs were completed. Kieron Powell and Shai Hope were run out while the left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed struck three quick blows to reduce the touring side to 56/6. Captain Jason Holder held the fort alone with a knock of 54 and soothed the pain of the Caribbean team’s devastating defeat.

Here are three reasons for Windies’ gigantic loss today:

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#3 Failure to dislodge India’s Top Three

It is no secret that the Indian batting lineup heavily relies on the shoulders of their top-three batsmen. While Virat Kohli was absent from the Asia Cup, it was the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma that usually helped India achieve the win. With Virat Kohli back, we have seen how these three have been churning out runs regularly.

For Windies to upset India’s plans when batting first, it was imperative for them to dislodge Dhawan-Sharma-Kohli at the earliest. Allowing any one of them to settle is an assurance of your bowling unit getting murdered. Jason Holder and men did complete two-thirds of the task but fell victim to the Hitman’s hammer.

After a good opening stand, Shikhar Dhawan fell for 38 as Keemo Paul forced him into a false shot. Roach removed Kohli by forcing him to play at an outside off-stump delivery. The Windies bowlers could not send back Rohit Sharma though and became a mute spectator to the Mumbaikar’s glorious batting. Rohit’s 162 was the top-score of the match and did enough to rule out Windies out of the challenge.

#2 Allowing Ambati Rayudu to capitalize on the opportunity

India’s greatest worry in the last two years or so has been solving the puzzle of the middle order. With the ODI World Cup just a few months away, the Indian team was frantically seeking to finalize its batting pool from which they would select their number four, five and six. Today, a few questions were answered in a splendid fashion by Ambati Rayudu.

Walking out to bat at 101/2, Rayudu did a fantastic job of rotating the strike to allow well-set Rohit Sharma to take the charge. Not holding back, the Hyderabadi batsman struck a few boundaries and helped himself to a wonderful century which was completed in just 80 balls. The partnership for the third wicket added 211 runs and India reached 344/4 by the time Rayudu returned to the pavilion.

The middle order had been a weak spot for the Indian team which was very well exploited by the opposition in the last few matches. Today, however, Windies failed to make a breakthrough and in result conceded a total of 377/5 runs which was truly beyond their reach.

#1 Poor shot selection and run judgment

The target of 378 was never going to be in Windies’ grasp unless at least two of their batsmen played the best knocks of their life. However, the Caribbean party could have used this match to score around 320-330 and gain batting confidence before going into the final match of the five-match series. Instead, the visitors folded up for a paltry total of 154.

Opener C Hemraj chased an outside off-stump delivery only to edge it and send it Rayudu’s way, who completed a wonderful catch. Shai Hope and Kieron Powell lost their wickets by getting run out. Marlon Samuels, the seniormost batsman, flirted with a ball outside off-stump to hand a catch to Rohit Sharma waiting in the slip.

Even before the first 15 overs of the Indian bowling were completed, Windies had already slumped to 56/6, effectively ending hopes of any sort of challenge. With the flat track at Brabourne at disposal, Jason Holder would have expected his batsmen to display better application and temperament.

Instead, the captain himself had to save the team from embarrassment by batting out a few overs. Windies will need to improve their batting effort leading into the fifth and final match of the series.