Bridgetown [Barbados]: West Indies skipper Shai Hope did not make excuses after being trashed by India in the first ODI by 5 wickets and 163 balls remaining in Barbados.
In the post-match presentation, Hope said that the pitch was difficult to bat on, however, he would not give any excuses as their batters did not bat well in front of Indian bowlers. “Not too many words come to mind. We didn’t play the way we needed to, we need to find ways to score on difficult pitches like this. I’m not making excuses but anyone watching cricket can see what is happening here. (On Jayden Seales) He is a quality player, somebody we can invest in and I hope he grows from strength to strength. The Indian bowlers did well on this surface, but we didn’t bat well,” he added.
A four-wicket haul by Kuldeep Yadav and a half-century by Ishan Kishan were the highlights as India defeated West Indies by five wickets in the first ODI of three-match series.
In the chase of 115 runs, India started off decently. Ishan Kishan was promoted up the order to open with Shubman Gill.
Gill’s disappointing run in recent international matches continued as he poked a delivery by Jayden Seales on the fifth-stump line and was dismissed for seven off 16 balls. India was 18/1 at that point.
Skipper Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja took India to win, finishing at 118/5 in 22.5 overs, with Rohit (12*) and Jadeja (16*) unbeaten.
Earlier, fantastic performances by spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja helped India restrict West Indies to just 114 runs in 23 overs during the first ODI of three-match series at Barbados on Thursday.
