Dhawan-Rahane opening stand sets the tone for India

Ajinkya Rahane was brought into the side to fill in the boots of a successful Rohit Sharma while Shikhar Dhawan looked to carry the Champion’s Trophy momentum to the game. Dhawan started his innings on a good note while Rahane took his time to set his eye in the game. The duo complemented each other brilliantly as the left-hander’s timely boundaries took pressure off Rahane who then accelerated his innings. West Indies were struggling to get wickets and also choke the batsmen for runs who kept scoring above 4.5 rpo and finished the first powerplay with 47 runs on the board. The batsmen then continued playing the bowlers with ease as West Indies tried to counter the Indian duo with spin. However, the strategy did not pay off as the Indian batsmen kept milking the bowlers for easy runs. India reached the 100-run mark in the 21st over following which Rahane brought on his 17th ODI half-century. Dhawan followed the suit and continued his stunning run in ODIs with yet another fifty. But trying to up the ante, Rahane failed when a well disguised slower delivery from Alzari Joseph sent him packing as India finished with 132-1 on the board at the midway mark.

Dhawan paced the Indian innings scoring majority of the runs which helped Virat Kohli take his time to settle on the crease. But the Indian southpaw’s honeymoon came to an end by a Devendra Bishoo slider that caught him plumb in front of the stumps at 87. Kohli then took charge and kept the scoreboard ticking with easy singles and doubles. Yuvraj Singh, on the other hand, was looking to spend some time on the crease and defended most of his deliveries. Yuvraj became the first Indian to score 500 runs against West Indies when he scored his second run. However, the Punjab batsman squandered his wicket by hitting a Jason Holder delivery straight into the hands Evin Lewis at mid-wicket. Shortly after Yuvraj’s dismissal, rains stopped play when India seemed to be heading towards the 300-run mark at 199-3 in 39.2 overs.