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Rediff.com  » Cricket » Rain washes out opening West Indies vs India ODI

Rain washes out opening West Indies vs India ODI

Source: PTI
June 24, 2017 01:21 IST
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IMAGE: The Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Photograph courtesy: Cricket West Indies

Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane hit half-centuries before rain washed out the first One-day International between West Indies and India, in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Friday.

Put into bat, India were 199 for three in 39.2 overs when rain prevented any further play at the Queen's Park Oval. Captain Virat Kohli (32) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9) were at the crease when the match was abandoned.

Dhawan and Rahane, included in the playing eleven in place of the rested Rohit Sharma, did not quite set the stage on fire but batted comfortably to raise a solid 132-run opening stand on a slowish track, not conducive for stroke-play.

They looked on course for big knocks before an innocuous looking bowling line-up from the West Indies stopped them in their tracks.

None of the West Indies bowler troubled the Indian batsmen, who did not dominate the attack either, preferring to nudge the ball around to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Dhawan's 87 came off 92 balls with 10 boundaries, including two shots over the ropes while Rahane took 78 balls for his 62-run knock that had eight shots to the fence.

Shikhar Dhawan

IMAGE: Shikhar Dhawan hits a boundary. Photograph courtesy: Cricket West Indies

Yuvraj Singh was the only batsman who did not make much contribution to the Indian innings.

Leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo completed his quota of 10 overs and conceded 39 runs, while picking up the key wicket of Dhawan.

After reading the wicket well and mostly scoring through languid drives, Rahane raised his half-century when an edge off Miguel Cummins raced to the boundary ropes.

Dhawan too completed his fifty, with a six off pacer Alzarri Joseph over deep square leg boundary. It looked easiest of the shots he played as he picked the length quite early and lofted it over the ropes.

The runs were coming at will for the Indians and suddenly there was something to cheer for the hosts as Joseph deceived Rahane with a slower one forcing the Indian opener to miscue the shot which landed in the hands of the skipper Jason Holder at mid-on.

Ajinkya Rahane

IMAGE: Ajinkya Rahane plays the pull shot. Photograph courtesy: Cricket West Indies

The fall of wicket brought captain Kohli to the crease and he had to negotiate some testing spin from leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo.

Dhawan kept going strong, getting a six off Joseph and a four off Cummins to get close to take his score into the 80s.

Kohli took some time to adjust to the slow nature of the wicket as initially he relied on singles. He took 20 balls to hit first boundary, which was a pull off a short and rising ball from Cummins.

West Indies

IMAGE: West Indies players celebrate the wicket of Yuvraj Singh. Photograph courtesy: Cricket West Indies

Bishoo was rewarded for his hard work when he caught Dhawan plumb in front of the wicket.

The left-hander attempted a flick across the line but missed the line completely and was adjudged leg before wicket by Kumar Dharamsena.

The Indians reviewed the decision but TV replays confirmed that the Sri Lankan umpire had called it correctly.

The stage was set for Yuvraj Singh (4) to get a big score with the bowlers hardly making an impact but the left-hander hit one straight to Evin Lewis at midwicket off rival captain Holder.

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