Thaindian News

Cuttack, Nov 29 (IANS) A middle-order batting collapse restricted the West Indies to 211 for nine in 50 overs against India in the first One-Day International (ODI) of the five-match series at the Barabati Stadium here Tuesday.

Asked to bat first, the West Indies made a faulty start losing first three wickets for 52 runs in the first 10 overs. Darren Bravo (60) and Danza Hyatt (31) added some stability to the West Indies innings with their 75-run stand, the only significant partnership of the innings. But the dismissal of Bravo triggered a collapse as the West Indies lost five wickets for just 46 runs.

The young Indian pace attack impressed with their steady line and length as Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron picked up two wickets each while R.Vinay Kumar bagged one. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina bagged a wicket each.

The two pacers struck in tandem to reduce the West Indies to 52/3 in 10 overs. Bravo and Hyatt went ahead with the repair act cleverly by stealing the odd singles and punishing the lose deliveries for boundaries. Hyatt took 38 deliveries to get to double figures while Bravo survived two dropped chances during his valuable knock. At a time when the partnership grew strong, some mindless running between the wickets ended Hyatt’s innings.

Raina castled Bravo in the 35th over after having spilled a straight catch from the Trinidadian in the same over.

The big-hitting Kieron Pollard (13) struggled against the Indian spinners and gave an easy catch to Virat Kohli at long-on off Ashwin. Andre Russell made a 20-ball 22 down the order as the West Indies got past the 200-run mark.