Indore ODI: Sehwag’s immortal 219 seals the series for India

Vineet Sharma/Zeenews Sports

Indore: It was an astounding display of strength by Team India, led by record breaking captain Virender Sehwag as the home team won by a whopping 153 runs, sealing the series 3-1 in their favour. In the first half, it was an epic unfolding for Sehwag as he became the man with the maximum runs in an innings in ODI history (219), surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s double hundred. Scorecard: India Vs West Indies» In the later part, West Indies stared down a humiliating defeat at the hands of a formidable looking Indian outfit right from the start as the pressure was simply insurmountable. They lost track of their game-plan early-on and kept on losing wickets with clinical precision. Barring Denesh Ramdin (96), who was the last man to fall, all other batsmen failed to even offer any resistance to the Indian total and perished haplessly. Ravindra Jadeja and debutant Rahul Sharma got three wickets a piece while the entire unit complemented the efforts with the bowling as well as the fielding. West Indies on the contrary, dropped crucial catches and awarded overthrows while their batsmen and bowlers lost the plot in front of the Delhi Blaster. Suresh Raina had picked up a wicket to send Andre Russell (29) back into the pavilion as the batsman was stumped with the agile gloves of Parthiv Patel. Ravichandran Ashwin also pitched in with a wicket, getting Darren Sammy (2) caught in the deep as the scorecard read 145/7. India were on top of their game as Jadeja got the second wicket in the form of Lendl Simmons (36) to wipe the openers away and expose the middle order early. The third fell in the form of Marlon Samuels (33) and Rahul Sharma got his first ODI wicket with the batsman. West Indies had started the run chase on a woeful note as Kieran Powell was run out with the scorecard reading 13/1. The fall of the first wicket put more pressure on the visitors after Sehwag had given a performance of a lifetime. Indian Innings & Sehwag The Mauler The entire cricketing world was treated to an encore of an unbelievable feat as Delhi Blaster Virender Sehwag bullishly slammed an ODI double century, a rarity only achieved once before by Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag was pitted as the man to be the first one to reach Tendulkar’s record by the Master himself and he stood true to the reputation. Becoming the highest run-scorer in ODI history (219), Sehwag not only crossed Sachin but also helped India post a formidable 419-run target against the visitors. The 418/5 was also India’s highest total in ODI matches. The Indian top order, facing flak over their recent failures to fire, came out all guns blazing at the Holkar Stadium. They were led by Sehwag, who etched his name in the nightmares of West Indies outfit like a man possessed, smashing boundaries by the dozen. Gautam Gambhir was the victim of a run out at a score of 67 runs. The scorecard read 176/1 (22.5 Ovs) at the fall of the first wicket. Suresh Raina also looked crisp, slamming a fifty in the process of occupying crease with Sehwag but was run out too. The dangerous opening pair started the proceedings in their signature style, hoping to seal the series on green looking pitch, the pair got the stadium in a cheering mood with a flurry of boundaries. For the first time in the series, India captain Sehwag decided to bat first after winning the toss against the West Indies. It was a decision that paid rich dividends, specially for the skipper himself. India lead the five match series 3-1, going into the final tie at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.