Shimron And Hope Guid West Indies To 1-0 Lead

Shimron Hetmyer's dominant 106-ball 139 and Shai Hope's patient 151-ball 102 helped West Indies script the highest successful chase at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and chose to ball first. Opener KL Rahul failed to build on a good T20I series as he was dismissed for 6. India captain Virat Kohli suffered a rare failure and gave his wicket away at 4. Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship, but the Indian vice-captain departed for 36, putting pressure on the untested middle-order.

However, Rishabh Pant came up with a matured innings, hitting 71 off 69 balls. He stitched a 114-run stand with Shreyas Iyer who hit his 4th successive fifty-plus score (70) in ODIs. West Indies, especially Sheldon Cottrell and Keemo Paul, bowled tight overs at the death as India managed just 72 in the last 10 overs. Pacers Alzarri Joseph, Cottrell and Paul picked up 2 wickets each while captain Kieron Pollard got the big wicket of Rishabh Pant.

Chasing 288, West Indies lost opener Sunil Ambris early. However, a 218-run stand between Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope made sure the visitors eased to what looked like a stiff target. Shimron Hetmyer smashed 139 runs off 106 balls as West Indies beat India by eight wickets in the first One-Day International on Sunday with 13 balls to spare. Hetmyer hit seven sixes and 11 fours, and put on a 218-run partnership with Shai Hope, who was 102 not out. It was a record ODI stand by West Indies for any wicket against India.

Both the teams will now face each other in the second game at Visakhapatnam.