Centuries by openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul and a superb hat-trick by wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav helped India record an emphatic 107-run win over the West Indies in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
India batted first in the day-night match and having learnt from the first ODI in Chennai where a total of 287 was not even close to being enough, the hosts went after the Windies bowlers from the start and did not take their foot off the gas. They posted 387-5 with Rohit (159 off 138 balls) and Rahul (102 off 104) adding 227 runs for the opening wicket.
Rohit smashed an incredible 17 boundaries and hit five sixes to keep the scoreboard ticking over on a wicket that had low bounce and sharp turn. His partner Rahul hit eight fours and three sixes during his innings to add another chapter to the new top order partnership that does not feature Shikhar Dhawan.
The foundation that they laid was so strong that even when India captain Virat got out for a first-ball duck, the hosts kept pushing.
Shreyas Iyer made 53 from just 32 balls with three fours and four sixes while Rishabh Pant had a similar boundary count during his 16-ball 39.
The target of 388 was always going to be beyond the Windies, even with the Indians having another poor day in the field.
In the first over, Rahul dropped a straightforward edge to slip from Shai Hope, who went on to make 78. Hard-hitting Nicholas Pooran was dropped by Deepak Chahar at long-off when on 22. The left-handed batsman went on to make 75 of just 47 balls with six fours and as many sixes.
But India had more than enough runs in the bank. With the Windies on 192-3 after 29 overs, Mohammed Shami (3-39) bowled the game-changing over as he first had Pooran pull one straight to square leg before having captain Kieron Pollard caught behind first ball.
Two overs later, it was all over as Kuldeep had Hope, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph off successive balls to become the first Indian bowler to have more than one international hat-trick. Kuldeep had earlier picked up a hat-trick against Australia in 2017, making him just the sixth bowler ever to have more than one ODI hat-trick. The West Indies folded for 280 in 43.3 overs.
After the match, Kuldeep said he was glad to be among the wickets after being in and out of the team for the best part of 2019.
"It's been a perfect day for me. A second hat-trick in ODIs. I am feeling very happy about it," Kuldeep said.
"The last six to eight months have been been tough for me. I've been working very hard. I was struggling for four-five months, but now I'm bowling well with the perfect pace and with the right variations. So it's very satisfying for me."
