THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ball swung from the beginning for the seamers and it spun for the spinners. It also stopped on the batsmen making batting a tricky business. Add to that some mindless shots by the West Indies batsmen and what had the potential to be a thrilling series decider turned out to be a damp squib here at the Sports Hub on Thursday as India cruised to a nine-wicket win and took the series 3-1.
West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 104 in 31.5 overs and India chased down the target in 14.1 overs losing just one wicket finishing the match in just over three-and-a-half-hours and in the process making the threat of possible evening showers irrelevant. Ravindra Jadeja (4/34) capitalized on the good start given by the seamers to set up India's sixth consecutive series win at home. This was also India's eighth successive series triumph against West Indies.
The pitch at Sports Hub was not a batting paradise as most expected and even Jason Holder seemed to have misread it electing to bat. But on a track where 230-250 would have given them a golden chance, five batsmen perished going for ambitious lofted shots, four among them caught in the deep.
West Indies decided to go for an all-Powell opening partnership with Rovman Powell, who had struggled against spin promoted to open the batting in place of Chandrapaul Hemraj. The troubles of Kieron Powell (0) though had no end as Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the ball rolling with a delivery that moved away from the left-hander and got the nick. Dhoni did the rest to snap his 425th dismissal as a wicketkeeper, rising to third in ODIs, pipping Mark Boucher. He has only Kumar Sangakkara (482) and Adam Gilchrist (472) ahead of him.
Jasprit Bumrah then got the big wicket in his first over. Shai Hope, the joint top-scorer for Windies till then in the series with 250 runs, could not add to his tally. Bumrah surprised Hope (0) with prodigious movement off the deck to dislodge the timber.
Marlon Samuels had a history of coming good in crunch matches and for a while, it looked he was getting into the groove. Samuels welcomed Khaleel Ahmed by launching him over long-on for a six and then picking him over mid-wicket for a four.
However, Jadeja who had started with a maiden against Samuels (24) got the better of the veteran the next over with a ball that gripped and turned. Samuels' half-hearted poke landed safely in the hands of skipper Kohli at extra cover.
Shimron Hetmyer, already a hit among locals because of his swashbuckling batting style, was greeted with huge cheers. But Jadeja trapped him in front for nine. The umpire did not give it initially but on review, India got their man.
From then on, the batting was inexplicable at best. Rovman Powell (16) pulled Khaleel straight to deep-square leg. Fabian Allen (4) top-edged a hook off Bumrah to fine-leg. Captain Holder (25), solid till then, attempted to loft Khaleel over mid-off and perished to Jadhav again, at mid-off. Any hope of a West Indies revival was over once Holder was gone as the seventh wicket.
Keemo Paul (5) and Kemar Roach (5) also could not control the adrenaline rush and were holed out in deep. Jadeja completed the formalities dismissing Oshane Thomas (0) leg-before for his fourth.
Shikhar Dhawan had the chance to get a decent hit but Oshane Thomas cramped him for room as the left-hander dragged the ball back on to his stumps, attempting a cut. But fittingly, the most prolific Indian batsmen of this series, Rohit Sharma (63 no) and Virat Kohli (33 no) finished off the chase without further hiccups.
Injured Nurse out of tour
West Indies off-spinner Ashley Nurse has been ruled out of the rest of the India tour with a pectoral muscle injury. Nurse, who was the Man of the Match in the visitors' only win of the tour in the third ODI in Pune, injured his shoulder during the previous match in Mumbai and was forced to sit out of the final game here on Thursday. Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo came into the Windies eleven in place of Nurse. Nurse will miss the three T20 matches also starting Sunday.
West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 104 in 31.5 overs and India chased down the target in 14.1 overs losing just one wicket finishing the match in just over three-and-a-half-hours and in the process making the threat of possible evening showers irrelevant. Ravindra Jadeja (4/34) capitalized on the good start given by the seamers to set up India's sixth consecutive series win at home. This was also India's eighth successive series triumph against West Indies.
The pitch at Sports Hub was not a batting paradise as most expected and even Jason Holder seemed to have misread it electing to bat. But on a track where 230-250 would have given them a golden chance, five batsmen perished going for ambitious lofted shots, four among them caught in the deep.
West Indies decided to go for an all-Powell opening partnership with Rovman Powell, who had struggled against spin promoted to open the batting in place of Chandrapaul Hemraj. The troubles of Kieron Powell (0) though had no end as Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the ball rolling with a delivery that moved away from the left-hander and got the nick. Dhoni did the rest to snap his 425th dismissal as a wicketkeeper, rising to third in ODIs, pipping Mark Boucher. He has only Kumar Sangakkara (482) and Adam Gilchrist (472) ahead of him.
Jasprit Bumrah then got the big wicket in his first over. Shai Hope, the joint top-scorer for Windies till then in the series with 250 runs, could not add to his tally. Bumrah surprised Hope (0) with prodigious movement off the deck to dislodge the timber.
Marlon Samuels had a history of coming good in crunch matches and for a while, it looked he was getting into the groove. Samuels welcomed Khaleel Ahmed by launching him over long-on for a six and then picking him over mid-wicket for a four.
However, Jadeja who had started with a maiden against Samuels (24) got the better of the veteran the next over with a ball that gripped and turned. Samuels' half-hearted poke landed safely in the hands of skipper Kohli at extra cover.
Shimron Hetmyer, already a hit among locals because of his swashbuckling batting style, was greeted with huge cheers. But Jadeja trapped him in front for nine. The umpire did not give it initially but on review, India got their man.
From then on, the batting was inexplicable at best. Rovman Powell (16) pulled Khaleel straight to deep-square leg. Fabian Allen (4) top-edged a hook off Bumrah to fine-leg. Captain Holder (25), solid till then, attempted to loft Khaleel over mid-off and perished to Jadhav again, at mid-off. Any hope of a West Indies revival was over once Holder was gone as the seventh wicket.
Keemo Paul (5) and Kemar Roach (5) also could not control the adrenaline rush and were holed out in deep. Jadeja completed the formalities dismissing Oshane Thomas (0) leg-before for his fourth.
Shikhar Dhawan had the chance to get a decent hit but Oshane Thomas cramped him for room as the left-hander dragged the ball back on to his stumps, attempting a cut. But fittingly, the most prolific Indian batsmen of this series, Rohit Sharma (63 no) and Virat Kohli (33 no) finished off the chase without further hiccups.
Injured Nurse out of tour
West Indies off-spinner Ashley Nurse has been ruled out of the rest of the India tour with a pectoral muscle injury. Nurse, who was the Man of the Match in the visitors' only win of the tour in the third ODI in Pune, injured his shoulder during the previous match in Mumbai and was forced to sit out of the final game here on Thursday. Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo came into the Windies eleven in place of Nurse. Nurse will miss the three T20 matches also starting Sunday.
Source : timesofindia[dot]indiatimes[dot]com
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