India v West Indies, 1st ODI, Kochi Samuels 126* powers WI to 321 Marlon Samuels, playing only his third ODI this year, led a strong batting effort from West Indies in the first ODI in Kochi, scoring his sixth ODI century - and his second against India, to pose a tough challenge for India in their first game of the home season. Together with Denesh Ramdin, who scored 61, Samuels added 165 runs for the fourth wicket - a record against India - in 23.1 overs to convert a solid start into an imposing total. Both Samuels and Ramdin had been among runs in the two practice games. What they did not have earlier was a strong start. However, today, when the two got together, the scoreboard read 98 for 2. With the Indian spinners neither really getting any purchase from the Kochi pitch or exerting any control, the two built on slowly, finding the odd boundary and also rotated the strike to keep the run-rate above five at the 30-over mark. It was only going to get better from there. Samuels welcomed Amit Mishra, who struggled with his lines throughout the innings, with a couple of straight sixes in the 31st over, then reached his half-century in the 34th over with another straight six, off Suresh Raina. Power was never an issue; Samuels found the distance when he wanted. What was noticeable was the number of singles he took that allowed him to keep the strike-rate around 100 through his innings. The Powerplay was when Ramdin took over from Samuels, smashing a Mohammed Shami full-toss over cover boundary and helping West Indies swell their score by 16 in that over. He also lofted Jadeja over cover for another smart boundary. At the other end, fielders watched as Samuels powerful cuts pinged the boundary. That Indias bowlers were losing control became apparent in the 40th over as Ravindra Jadeja gave away 10 extra runs with leg-side wides. Fifty two runs came in the Powerplay and by the end of it, West Indies run rate had moved to a neat six an over. Samuels reached his century with a calm dab down the ground and although West Indies lost a bit of momentum with the loss of quick wickets, Samuels carried on with precision violence to finish on unbeaten 126. The total had looked unlikely given the teams top-order woes in the practice games. On the eve of the match, Dwayne Bravos letter to WICB had mentioned the West Indies team morale was at an all-time low. At the toss, Bravo said the mood in the camp was very good. The turnaround may have seemed a bit too quick, but the manner in which West Indies batted exhibited one thing - the preceding events had a galvanising effect on the team. There had been uncertainty around the West Indies camp before the start of the play. There was more even when they decided to go ahead with the game. With Lendl Simmons injured and neither Leon Johnson or Jermaine Blackwood, the two batsmen who opened during the practice games, not in the XI, it was not sure who was going to open with Dwayne Smith. So the surprise was palpable when Dwayne Bravo walked out to open the innings, only the third time in his career. It seemed an avenue worth exploring: unlike most other West Indies batsmen, Dwayne Bravo is a quick runner between wickets and does posses the ability to clear the infield. Moreover, West Indies had a bevy of big-hitting allrounders in the lower middle order. The move appeared to work for the first seven overs as despite playing and missing a few times, the batsmen managed to find the boundaries. Dwayne Bravo stroked a couple of boundaries off the back foot in the second over, showing he was prepared to keep the ball down, but his stay ended as he tried to slap a swinging delivery from Mohammed Shami over cover only to edge it to second slip. Smith soldiered on, slicing and toe-ending boundaries to start with but getting them off the middle with time. By the time MS Dhoni introduced Ravindra Jadeja in the 11th over, Smith was stroking the ball freely. He greeted his Chennai Super Kings team-mate with a six over long-on, but just when he looked set for a half-century, he missed a quicker one from Jadeja to be bowled. The score was 98 and it was still West Indies best start of the tour.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:03:58 +0000