Kuldeep, Jadeja set up easy victory as India strike out WI

Bridgetown: Skipper Rohit Sharma and senior pro Virat Kohli, who have 76 international hundreds between them, decided to give game time to middle-order batters as India beat West Indies by five wickets in the opening ODI, riding on exploits from spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

After Jadeja (3/37 in 6 overs) and Kuldeep (4/6 in 4 overs) set it up beautifully, shooting out the Windies for 114 in 23 overs, Ishan Kishan helped himself to a half-century (52 off 46 balls) in India's successful chase in just 22.5 overs.

With 12 ODI matches in hand to find the perfect combination and some pieces of the puzzle still to be fixed before the World Cup, Rahul Dravid and Rohit's decision to give game time to middleorder batters was a welcome move.

While it didn't exactly go as per plan for Suryakumar Yadav (19), who played a non-existent sweep shot, and Hardik Pandya (5), freakishly run-out at the non-striker's end, Kishan did his cause no harm with his fourth half-century.

The chase was never a problem but the wicket did offer a lot of turn apart from bounce which made life difficult for batters from both sides.

Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie (2/26 in 6.5 overs) did ask a few probing questions but the total didn't allow him to challenge the Indians more.

For India, skipper Rohit came in as late as No. 7 and Kohli didn't even come out to bat. The idea was simple. Neither Rohit nor Kohli would gain anything by getting another half-century against a team like West Indies but giving a chance to check Kishan as the third/reserve opener or Suryakumar as one of the middle-order options, provided Shreyas Iyer fails to recover in time, would give them requisite confidence.

With chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar also present, these were some well thought-out moves as often the Indian top three have stacked runs.

Also, when batting collapse happened in a knock-out game of a big tourney, the middle-order, with lack of game time, have struggled badly.

Brief scores: West Indies: 114 all out in 23 overs (Shai Hope 43; Kuldeep Yadav 4/6, Ravindra Jadeja 3/37). India: 118 for 5 in 22.5 overs (Ishan Kishan 52, Motie 2/26). (PTI)