India vs West Indies, 5th ODI: 3 reasons why West Indies lost

After thrashing the West Indies at Mumbai and taking a 2-1 lead, India arrived at Thiruvananthapuram hoping to finish the series in style. West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss and made the surprising decision to bat first, and things went downhill for his team from there.

Virat Kohli pointed out that the dew factor and overcast conditions meant that he would have been happy to bowl first, and he was proven right.

West Indies dropped Hemraj Chandrapaul and replaced him with the fast bowler Oshane Thomas, while the injured Ashley Nurse was replaced by the experienced leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo. But Holder’s decision to bat first proved to be a blunder as the Windies top order collapsed badly.

Kieran Powell was dismissed in the first over itself as he edged an outswinger from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Once again all the visitors' hopes relied heavily on the shoulders of Shai Hope, but this time he disappointed by bagging a duck.

This was the moment for the experienced Marlon Samuels to step in and play a vital knock. He did start well, playing attractive strokes through the leg side, but Ravindra Jadeja completely deceived him with a well-bowled slower delivery.

Jadeja then struck again as he got the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer out with a good length delivery that turned a touch to rap the batsman's pads. Jason Holder fought a lone battle for some time before being dismissed by Khaleel Ahmed. Eventually, the Windies were bundled out for 104.

Chasing a modest target, India would have hoped for Shikhar Dhawan to get set and score a half-century, but he disappointed yet again and fell to Thomas in the second over itself. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli then combined yet again for a big partnership.

Rohit entertained the crowd with some stylish sixes and India easily chased the target with 9 wickets remaining.

Here are the 3 biggest reasons why West Indies lost:

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#3. Inexperienced batting lineup

There was a lot of praise for the Windies batsmen from their captain Jason Holder after the first three ODIs, as they comfortably scored above 250 and gave their bowlers decent totals to defend. But in all three ODIs, they heavily relied on two promising youngsters, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope.

That over-dependence on a couple of players has eventually cost them the series, as the dismissal of Hope in the 4th and 5th ODIs resulted in staggering collapses.

Their openers have been disappointing to say the least, as they never gave the Windies middle order a decent platform to build from. Rovman Powell was promoted to open the innings but he struggled badly and departed for a meager 16 runs for which he took 39 balls.

Samuels got a start but ended a nightmare series with a soft dismissal. Hetmyer fell cheaply this time after impressing everyone with his power hitting at the start of the series.

No one really showed the grit and composure to play a lengthy innings, and that resulted in the downfall of the team.

#2. Spin friendly surface

30 years have gone by since an ODI was played at this venue, and everyone was eager to see how the pitch played out. In the end, it turned out to be a spinner’s paradise as the Indian tweakers spun a web around the Windies batsmen.

The ball was stopping and misbehaving after pitching, and the Windies batsmen did not have any clue how to counter the turn. Holder’s decision to bat first seemed even more bizarre after everyone witnessed the sharp turn off the pitch.

The way in which the Windies batting order collapsed was not really surprising, as far superior teams have struggled against India’s spin bowling on such pitches. But the Windies batsmen could have shown better application and could have used their feet to try and disrupt the rhythm of Indian spinners, which they failed to do.

#1. Jadeja’s incisive bowling

The way Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have performed in the past two years does not leave much room for another spinner. But Jadeja was picked to replace the injured Pandya, and he has used these five matches to revive his faltering limited-overs career.

Jadeja’s ability to bowl a stump-to-stump line with great consistency was once again instrumental in his match-winning display at the Greenfield stadium.

First, he picked up the dangerous looking Samuels with a beautifully flighted delivery which took him by surprise, giving Kohli a straightforward catch. Then, he struck again by removing the big hitting Shimron Hetmyer with a fast off-spinner that trapped him in front of the stumps. In fact, the umpire had initially refused to give it out but Jadeja forced Kohli to take a review and the replays confirmed that the ball was clearly hitting the stumps.

As always, Jadeja was economical too, and ended the Windies innings by quickly picking up Roach and Thomas.