India vs West Indies 4th ODI was one of those matches where tables were turned as a pace that was awfully slow but the result was one of the biggest upsets we have seen in the recent past. A target of 190 runs has never been an intimidating one for the Indian side and the kind of strip that was available at Antigua further increased the chances of the Virat Kohli-led team to continue their dominance in the Caribbean.
However, that was not the case on Sunday. Jason Holder once said that India boasts of one of the best opening batting lineup and for an opposition to get an upper hand on the Men In Blue, one needs to send Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli back to the pavilion as soon as possible. And that is what he did.
While Rahane came good with a 60-run stand, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan (5) and Virat Kohli (3) succumbed to their terrible shot selection and the same was followed by the whole lineup.
Just as fans thought the India-Windies contest was a stark case of a mismatch between talent and potential, India has stunned the fans by succumbing to a shocking defeat, raising serious concerns about their capacity to be consistent with success.
To be straight, there was not even a single reason why Virat Kohli’s men shouldn’t have won the India vs West Indies 4th ODI considering the two 50+ scores that only needed some backing from the middle order. Moreover, West Indies didn’t come up with sudden fireworks that should have challenged the visitors and India could have easily won the match, unless they were trying to lose.
MS Dhoni, the best finisher of the century, meanwhile registered a record on his name that shouldn’t have existed in the very first place. His 54 off 144 balls knock during the India vs West Indies 4th ODI was one of the most sluggish stands we have ever seen and his 108 ball fifty was the slowest half-century ever scored by an Indian batsman.
Jason Holder (9.4-27-5), the West Indies captain, on the other hand, was named the man of the match after his dominating spell that restricted the whole Indian lower order which gave his team one of the biggest ever victories in terms of the lowest total ever defended at the venue.
Here are some more stats, some of which will demean the ‘Best Finisher’ tag that MS Dhoni carries.
- Dhoni’s 108 ball fifty was the lowest ever scored by an Indian batsman since 2001. Sourav Ganguly held the previous record, courtesy of the former skipper’s 105-ball half-century against Sri Lanka in 2005.
- Dhoni’s strike rate of 47.36 was his lowest in an ODI innings when he has scored at least 25 runs.
- MS Dhoni faced 70 dot balls during his 114 balls 54 knock which is the most number of dot balls the former Indian captain has faced in an ODI. The previous record of 69 was also against the same team.
- MS Dhoni’s 104-balls fifty is his slowest in ODIs, the previous record being his 88-balls fifty against Pakistan in 2013.
- This is the first time that India has failed to chase a total below 200 runs since 2006 in ODIs, the last time they did so was against West Indies in 2006.
- The last time MS Dhoni hits consecutive fifties was in 2010 against New Zealand.
- Jason Holder now has the third best bowling figures (5/27) among West Indian captains, Vivian Richards (6/41) and Dwayne Bravo (6/43) being the top two.
- Ajinkya Rahane became the third Indian opener after the likes of Sachin Tendulkar (Natwest series 2007) as well as Virender Sehwag (2008) to register four 50+ scores in a bilateral One Day series, and he also became the fifth Indian player to register four 50+ scores during a 5-Match ODI series, after Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh.
- Ajinkya Rahane now has the record of most number of runs in an ODI series against West India (297), Rohit Sharma is the second best with 257 runs.
As for the Indian side, Virat Kohli’s struggle with outside the off stump deliveries, the lower order being shaky after the top order collapses without getting considerable runs on the scoreboard and the side’s vying with consistency continues after the India vs West Indies 4th ODI.