(Reuters) – India clinched a series win over the West Indies after pacer Prasidh Krishna tore through the tourists’ top order on Wednesday, taking four wickets to lead India to a 44-run victory in the second one-day international in Ahmedabad.
Building on their six-wicket win over the West Indies in the opening ODI on Sunday, India defended a modest total of 237-9 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Put into bat, India set the West Indies a target of 238, with Suryakumar Yadav top scoring for the hosts with 64 runs from 83 balls.
Yadav put together a 90-run stand with KL Rahul (49), which came to an end when a mix-up between the batters led to Rahul being run out.
For the West Indies, Alzarri Joseph and Odean Smith took two wickets apiece, with captain Kieron Pollard missing out on the match due to a “niggle”.
“There were some challenges. The partnership between Rahul and Surya had a lot of maturity,” said Rohit Sharma, who oversaw his first series win as ODI captain since taking over from Virat Kohli in December.
“We got to a respectable total in the end. We knew we could fight it out. The entire unit came out and bowled superbly.”
The West Indies were jolted early in their reply after Krishna (4-12) dismissed opener Brandon King and Darren Bravo in successive overs, before getting the wicket of Nicholas Pooran (9) in the 20th over.
Shamarh Brooks (44) provided some resistance before he became Deepak Hooda’s first wicket in international cricket, missing out on his fifty when he holed out to long on.
Smith then provided the West Indies a glimmer of hope towards the end of the innings with a knock of 24, which included a couple of sixes, but the West Indies were eventually bowled out for 193 inside 46 overs.
“I have been striving hard to do this for a long time. So, I am very happy that we won. I was just looking to hit the good areas,” Krishna said.
“I wanted to keep it tight, keep it simple, and let the ball do the talking. I stuck to good lines and tried to be as consistent as possible.”
The two sides meet in the third and final match of the series at the same venue on Friday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
