Sports

Kohli leads the way with ton, India beat WI to stay afloat

July 06, 2013 06:09 PM

Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with a blistering century as India bounced back with an emphatic 102-run triumph over the West Indies in a do-or-die encounter of the ODI tri-series here.
The Indians, who had lost both their previous matches, posted a challenging 311 for seven before bowling out the hosts for 171 in 34 overs to grab a bonus point via the Duckworth/Lewis method in a rain-truncated match.

The target was revised to 274 in 39 overs after a two-hour rain delay before which the hosts were 56 for two in 10 overs.

India's victory has thrown the series wide open with all three teams in with a chance of making the finals.

West Indies are in with a stronger chance having won two of their three matches for nine points. They they will wind up their league engagements tomorrow against Sri Lanka.

India will face Sri Lanka on Tuesday in the last league match. Both the teams have five points each as of now.

After a couple of ordinary shows, the famed Indian batting line-up got its act together with Kohli leading the way.

Batting with a lot of grit and gumption, Kohli (102) anchored India after the team lost five established batsmen at a score of 210 in 40 overs.

Openers Shikhar Dhawan (69) and Rohit Sharma (46) had laid a strong foundation with their 123-run stand and Kohli ensured that their hard work did not go waste with his gritty 14th One-Day century.

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar then rattled the West Indies chase with wickets of Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo before heavens opened up and held up play for two hours.

After resumption, West Indies batsmen succumbed to pressure and the team lost wickets in a heap.

Coming into the make-or-break match, both the Indian openers batted with a lot of responsibility. They chose caution over aggression, relying on rotation of the strike and hitting an odd boundary in between.

Dhawan, by nature is a stroke-maker, kept his natural urge to go for strokes under control till India had safely negotiated almost 25 overs.

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