The first West Indies vs India ODI ended with the visitors defeating the rivals in the first of the three matches in the series, which was played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. India chased down 115 in only 22.5 overs.
It was a mismatched encounter with India proving too good for the Caribbean side that is low on confidence after missing the World Cup spot following a poor showing in the qualifiers. On the other hand, India took the chase too deep losing five wickets but they did eventually seal the deal in the 23rd over.
Also Read: Mohammed Siraj rested for West Indies ODIs
Earlier, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first, with the big call being selecting Ishan Kishan ahead of Sanju Samson in the playing XI. Mohammed Siraj had earlier been ruled out of the series, with the Indian selectors deciding to rest the seamer ahead of a hectic season ahead. In his absence, Hardik Pandya took the new ball much to everyone’s surprise and he struck in his second over nipping out Kyle Mayers.
Brandon King and Alick Athanaze then stitched 38 runs together before both batters were dismissed in the space of four balls. While Shardul Thakur breached King’s defence, debutant Mukesh Kumar sent Athanaze packing to register his first ODI scalp in the West Indies vs India match.
Another 43-run stand followed between Shimron Hetmyer and skipper Shai Hope. The latter was the aggressor taking on the bowling. At one stage, it seemed like the duo were rebuilding the innings successfully and with the run rate on the rise, the hosts looked set to challenge India.

However, Ravindra Jadeja castled Hetmyer and it was all downhill for West Indies thereafter. Kuldeep Yadav ran through the lower order and also accounted for the set Hope to finish with the figures of 4/6 in three overs, out of which two were maiden.
Jadeja also ended with three scalps as West Indies were skittled for 114 runs in 23 overs. This was the second-lowest total for West Indies against India in the ODIs. Also, these are the third-fewest overs India needed to bowl out the opposition in the format. This is also the first time the left-arm spinners picked seven (or more) wickets for India in an ODI.
Chasing 115, it was expected to be a cakewalk for India and for the same reason, Rohit and Virat Kohli sacrificed their regular batting spots, giving the youngsters an opportunity instead in the West Indies vs India ODI. Kishan walked out to open the innings with Shubman Gill and the latter’s poor tour continued as Jayden Seales got the better of him for just seven runs.
Having bagged a hattrick of first-ball ducks in the previous ODI series against Australia, Suryakumar Yadav was sent in to bat at number three. While he looked in decent touch during his 19-run knock hitting three fours and a six, much more is expected of the dynamic batter. Hardik was run-out then after scoring just five runs.
All this while, Kishan was making the most of the golden opportunity at the top of the order. He played calculated strokes and slammed an impressive half-century. But Gudakes Motie had a special outing as he first pinned Suryakumar in front of the stumps and then sent Kishan packing for 52.
With only 21 runs to win after Kishan’s dismissal, India opted to send Shardul Thakur to bat at six only for the move to fail and look embarrassing at one point. Rohit had to finally come out to bat at number seven, for the first time in ODIs since 2011.
India managed to chase down the total in the 23rd over of the innings to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Kuldeep won the Player of the Match award.
Brief Scores for West Indies vs India 1st ODI
West Indies – 114/10 after 23 overs (Shai Hope 43; K Yadav 4/6)
India – 118/5 after 22.5 overs (I Kishan 52; G Motie 2/26)
India won by five wickets