World Cup 2019: India register emphatic win over West Indies to maintain unbeaten streak

India registered an emphatic 125-run win over West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester on Thursday. With this win, the Men in Blue are one step away from ensuring a place in the World Cup 2019 semi-finals.

Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got off to a steady start before Kemar Roach dismissed Sharma in a controversial manner. But Kohli looked positive right from the word go, and at the end of 10 overs India were 47 for 1.

After the power play, Kohli and Rahul made batting look easy on a pitch that wasn't exactly batsman-friendly. West Indies captain Jason Holder got the breakthrough, dismissing Rahul for 48. Rahul and Kohli had added 69 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav failed to put up any substantial contribution. The West Indies bowlers restricted the run flow in the middle overs and did not allow the Indian batsmen to score too many boundaries.

MS Dhoni came to the crease and struggled. At the other end, Kohli reached his fifty off 55 balls. But Holder dismissed the Indian captain for 72, after he and Dhoni had added 40 runs for the 5th wicket.

Dhoni was given a reprieve by Shai Hope and he made full use of the chance. Hardik Pandya came to the crease and hit a quickfire 46 off 38 balls; Dhoni and Pandya added 70 runs for the 6th wicket.

Dhoni reached his fifty off 59 balls in the last over, and India finished with 268 for 7. For West Indies, Cottrell and Holder took two wickets each while Kemar Roach was best bowler on display with 3 for 36.

Chasing the target of 269, West Indies got off to a poor start as they lost Chris Gayle and Shai Hope to the bowling of Mohammed Shami. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies were struggling at 29 for 2.

After the power play, Sunil Ambris and Nicolas Pooran steadied the West Indies innings but Pandya dismissed Ambris for 31. Ambris and Pooran had added 55 runs for the 3rd wicket.

It was a brilliant display by the Indian bowlers after that as they kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Jasprit Bumrah was simply sensational, getting the wickets of Carlos Brathwaite and Fabien Allen in succession to leave the West Indies innings in tatters.

Shami completed the job at the end, dismissing Oshane Thomas to bowl out West Indies for 143 in 34.2 overs.

Brief scores: India 268 for 7 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 72, MS Dhoni 56*, Hardik Pandya 46, Kemar Roach 3/36, Holder 2/33) beat West Indies 143 in 34.2 overs (Sunil Ambris 31, Nicholas Pooran 28, Mohammed Shami 4/16, Jasprit Bumrah 2/9) by 125 runs.

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