India continued its unbeaten streak with a 125-run victory at Old Trafford that ended any slight hope West Indies had of reaching the World Cup semifinals.
It was a fifth win for Virat Kohli's India lineup and a rebound in form following a close call against Afghanistan. It was a fifth loss in six games for the West Indians since a commanding opening win over Pakistan and it makes them the third team to drop out of playoffs contention.
The West Indies bowling attack did its job when Kemar Roach (3/36) took three wickets and skipper Jason Holder (2-33) snared two to contain India to 268-7 in 50 overs. Only Kohli, with 72 from 82 balls, and MS Dhoni, with an unbeaten 56, posted half centuries for India.
On Thursday, when he got to 37, Virat Kohli completed 20000 runs in international cricket. Here’s a look at some of the records Virat Kohli broke or became part of after innings of 72 against West Indies on Thursday:
- Kohli became the quickest to the milestone, getting there in 417 innings. He smashed the previous record set by Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, who had taken 453 innings to complete 20000 runs in international cricket.
- Kohli became the third Indian cricketer to amass more than 20000 runs in international cricket after Sachin Tendulkar (34357) and Rahul Dravid (24208).
- When he brought up his half-century, Virat Kohli became only the third captain to post four consecutive scores of 50 or more in World Cup matches. The other captains to achieve the feat are Graeme Smith (in 2007) and Aaron Finch (World Cup 2019).
- Kohli also became only the third Indian batsman to post four consecutive 50-plus scores in World Cup matches. The others to do it were Navjot Sidhu (in 1987) and Sachin Tendulkar (in 1996 & in 2003).
- Kohli's 72 was his 17th score of 50 or more against the West Indies, which is the most any player has posted against them in ODIs.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami established a new record for the most wickets taken by a bowler in his first 9 World Cup matches; Shami has taken 25 wickets in his first 9 World Cup matches, bettering the previous record of 24 wickets set by Lasith Malinga.
Shami dismissed Chris Gayle (6) and No. 3 Shai Hope (5) in his opening spell and, after an innings building 55-run partnership between Nicholas Pooran and Sunil Ambris, it all went downhill for West Indies.
Shami returned for two late wickets and finished with figures of 4/16 as West Indies was bowled out for 143 in the 35th over.
The 125-run win was India's fourth consecutive win over West Indies in World Cup matches. India had defeated the West Indies in the previous three World Cup meetings in 1996, 2011 and 2015.
(Statistics by Arun Gopalakrishnan)
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