The Barabati Stadium at Cuttack sunk into despair as Virat Kohli departed with India needing 30 from 4 overs and the tail to salvage them. The chase master has had a major influence in India chasing 300-plus totals. In the last 10 years, India had chased 9 totals in excess of 300 before this and Kohli had made seven centuries in those games.

Kohli in India's successful 300+ chases in last 10 years:

107 v SL, Kolkata 2009
0 v NZ, Bengaluru '10
133* v SL, Hobart '12
183 v Pak, Dhaka '12
100* v Aus, Jaipur '13
115* v Aus, Nagpur '13
8 v Aus, SCG '16
122 v Eng, Pune '17
140 v WI, Guwahati '18
85 v WI, Cuttack '19

�?Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 22, 2019

In the last five years, he had never gotten out in the 80s or 90s in a run-chase in ODIs. So at Cuttack, as he fell for 85, the hopes set with him, especially with Ravindra Jadeja, despite his recent exploits, not having a good enough match-winning quality with the bat. 

Joining him was Shardul Thakur and as the game headed into the final few moments, one could not but help remember the Indian T20 League finals from May. Then, Dwayne Bravo fell in the penultimate over in a run-chase of 149 and Shane Watson was dismissed in the final over, leaving Jadeja and Thakur to play the winning hand.

Read | Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul shine at the top; Iyer-Pant blitz makes headlines

With Lasith Malinga steaming in, Thakur slapped the ball for a couple of runs off the penultimate ball, leaving Chennai to get two runs off one ball. Thakur was then infamously trapped in front off the final delivery to hand Mumbai a title win.

This time around, Thakur was in the mood to make the others forget his epic failure in that game. Off the first ball he faced, Thakur drilled Keemo Paul for a boundary. He would then slam Sheldon Cottrell for a six and a four with the side needing seven runs in the final over.

Jadeja then hit a four and a couple of runs to level scores before a no-ball helped India over the line. Thakur's six-ball 17, as much as Jadeja's 31-ball 39 was crucial as India chased down the target to win a series decider. The two players thereby also buried ghosts of their failed attempt in May against Mumbai in the Indian T20 League. 

In that game, Jadeja did not get time to settle down and make a move whereas here, after his showing in the World Cup semi-final, he could anchor the innings better. Even when Kohli was dismissed, Jadeja seemed confident enough with Thakur joining him.

The Indian pacer had incidentally hit six sixes in an over at school level in 2009, a decade before this. But it is his cameo here that will stand out for the sheer composure he displayed against a quality attack that had taken out the cream of India's batting to take the visitors to the cusp of a win. 

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

India and West Indies will face-off in the decider ODI of the series at Cuttack on Sunday, a ground where India have won all their ODIs against West Indies and have not lost a game since 2007.

India come into the game with their confidence soaring high, having set and smashed multiple records in the second ODI, a game which they won when they posted 387-5 on the scoreboard, courtesy centuries from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, with some late carnage from the young duo of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.

Read | Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul shine at the top; Iyer-Pant blitz makes headlines

Kuldeep Yadav then shone with the ball, picking up a hat-trick, his second in ODIs, the first Indian to do so, when he dismissed Shai Hope, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph off consecutive balls to completely derail the already wayward Windies chase.

India will be forced to make at least one change to their starting XI for the third ODI, as pacer Deepak Chahar was ruled out due to lower back pain, a similar issue to that which put star bowler, Jasprit Bumrah out of action for a few months.

Senior pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is also likely out till the Indian T20 League in April with a groin injury, with pacer Shardul Thakur replacing him in the ODI squad, and then played in the second match in place of Shivam Dube.

Here are all the relevant details you need to catch it live:

When: The match starts at 1.30pm IST, and toss will be held at 1.00pm IST

Where: Star Sports 1/1 HD, Star Sports 2/2 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi/1 Hindi HD, Star Sports Select 1/1 HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada, Star Sports 1 Bangla

Live-stream: Hotstar

Feature image courtesy: AFP / STR

India completed a comprehensive 107-run victory over West Indies in the second ODI at Vishakapatnam on Wednesday, courtesy Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul’s centuries to claw back after a meek defeat in the first ODI.

The match was won in the first innings, when India posted 387-5 on the board as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put their heads down and gave the team a perfect opening stand. The duo put on 227, the fourth-highest opening partnership for India, the biggest partnership seen at Vizag and also was the first century opening stand at the venue.

It was also India’s 12^th opening century stand by India against West Indies, the joint-most by any team along with England, and their first since 2017.

The partnership was also the second-biggest by any opening pair against West Indies after Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw’s 247 in 2015.

Read | La Liga ropes in Real Madrid superfan Rohit Sharma as brand ambassador

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul both scored tons while opening the batting, making it the ninth instance in ODIs when both openers scored a hundred, the most by any team as India went past Sri Lanka’s tally of eight.

While KL Rahul is enjoying a brilliant run of form off late, Rohit Sharma has been having a phenomenal time all year-round. His 159 off 132 balls yesterday was his 10^th century in 2019 and seventh in ODIs, the former making him the first opener to score 10 international tons in a year while the latter made him joint-second alongside Sourav Ganguly and David Warner. Only Sachin Tendulkar, with nine ODI tons in 1998 has scored more in a calendar year.

Rohit Sharma did make a couple of more records his own though. Yesterday’s innings was his eighth score of 150+ in ODIs, the most by any batsman. His five sixes during the innings meant that he had hit 77 sixes in 2019, the most in a calendar year, a record he has broken for each of the past two years. It was also the most sixes any batsman had hit in a particular country, as he overtook former captain, MS Dhoni.

Meanwhile, Rohit’s fellow Mumbaikar, Shreyas Iyer continued his excellent run in ODIs with his fourth-consecutive fifty, all against West Indies, and sixth overall, with five of them coming at a strike-rate of more than 100.

Read | Australia drop Glenn Maxwell, call-up Labuschagne for India ODIs

During the course of that innings, he shared a brilliant, quick-fire 73-run stand with Rishabh Pant which came off just 24 balls as the duo tore into Sheldon Cottrell and Roston Chase, scoring 55 in two overs to give the side the momentum going into the innings break. They made those runs at 18.25 per over, making it the third best strike-rate for a 50+ stand in ODIs.

They looted the 47^th over, bowled by Roston Chase, for 31 runs, the most India had scored in one over in ODIs, with Shreyas Iyer scoring four sixes and a four in that over.

However, not everything was bad for the Windies. Shai Hope’s brilliant form in 2019 in ODIs continued as his 73 meant that he had scored 1303 ODI runs this year, the second-most accumulated, going past Virat Kohli and sitting just behind Rohit Sharma.

Hope’s tally is only 47 behind Brian Lara’s 1349 ODI runs in 1993, a record he can surpass in the next ODI at Cuttack on Sunday.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / STR

India, considered a force to reckon with in ODIs, what with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma enjoying yet another run-filled year and the bowling bolstered manifold with the recent form of Deepak Chahar, were humbled by the West Indies in the first ODI.

Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope slammed contrasting yet typical centuries on a sluggish and tough Chepauk wicket. A 287-run chase was expected to be a difficult chase on that pitch, and the problems were compounded when Chahar picked the early wicket of opener, Sunil Ambris.

However, Hetmyer and Hope joined hands and the left-right combination worked wonders for the West Indies as Hope’s naturally sheet anchor nature played right into their hands.

Read | Fantasy Focus: Hetmyer and Kohli to go toe-to-toe this week for glory

Hetmyer took the attack to India, gauging the pitch really well and regularly finding the ropes, and also sending the leather over it. He seemed to be batting on a different wicket, sparing no bowler, and was especially severe on Ravindra Jadeja,

The Indian bowlers for once seemed out of sync, bowling half-trackers and attempting to bounce him out without putting in an effort, which meant that the ball sat up nicely to be hit.

In the end, it turned out to be a tremendous eight-wicket win with Nicolas Pooran giving Hope enough of the strike to complete his century late on.

India will be gunning for revenge, and will no doubt come at West Indies with a renewed energy.

Here are all the relevant details you need to catch it live:

When: The match starts at 1.30pm IST, and toss will be held at 1.00pm IST

Where: Star Sports 1/1 HD, Star Sports 2/2 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi/1 Hindi HD, Star Sports Select 1/1 HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada, Star Sports 1 Bangla,

Live-stream: Hotstar

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Arun Sankar

India and Pakistan are on the field this week although they aren't playing each other but different teams in different formats in different countries. West Indies, having pulled off a win in the first game, can topple the hosts while Sri Lanka and Pakistan have weather and pitches to counter. Here we take a look at the few bankable players this week for the Nostragamus fantasy managers to pick with conviction.

Virat Kohli 

Country: India 

Match/Series: West Indies vs India ODIs 

If anything fires up Virat Kohli, it is a challenge and a situation which calls for him to step up. 0-1 down in the series, Kohli will be India's go-to man in the remaining two ODIs of the series. West Indies have bad news, though, as Kohli's average shoots up from 57.12 in the first ODI of a series to 62.93 and 69.44 in the second and third ODIs. Against the Windies, he averages a whopping 74.13 in ODIs with nine hundreds and 10 half-centuries.

Read | Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli are now joint leading run-scorers in T20Is

Shimron Hetmyer 

Country: West Indies 

Match/Series: West Indies vs India ODIs 

After a rip-roaring hundred in the first ODI in challenging conditions at Chepauk in Chennai, Hetmyer has become hot property and rightly so. Highly talented, the southpaw is a good player of pace and spin and can milk the opposition with ease on his day. Of late, he has enjoyed several such days too. Against India, Hetmyer averages 51 with two hundreds and a half-century in his kitty.

Shimron Hetmyer vs each bowler:

▪️ 40 off 27 against Jadeja
▪️ 28 off 18 against Dube
▪️ 24 off 15 against Shami
▪️ 23 off 22 against Kuldeep
▪️ 14 off 20 against Chahar
▪️ 10 off 4 against Kedar

Total: 139 runs off 106 deliveries
11 Fours & 7 sixes
Strike rate: 131.13 pic.twitter.com/OH6SuoF61F

�?CRiiiCKET Stats (@CRiiiCKETstats) December 16, 2019

Read | Why Shikhar Dhawan is surplus to India's T20 requirements

Nicholas Pooran 

Country: West Indies 

Match/Series: West Indies vs India ODIs 

Pooran's abilities often remain obscured by the bigger players in the side. However, often in moments of strife the West Indian has helped the side finish off with composure and flair. Pooran's ODI record isn't as impressive as his T20I record. That said, he still averages 47 in 17 ODIs with a hundred. When chasing, this average shoots up to above 50.

Abid Ali 

Country: Pakistan 

Match/Series: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Tests

Abid Ali hit the record books when he became the first batsman to score a century on Test and ODI debut. The 32-year old right-handed opener isn't everyone's go-to player in a fantasy team, but he sure knows to grab his chances as has been evident from his short career thus far. In him, the Nostragamus fantasy managers have a unique pick that not many others would go for.

Abid Ali became the 106th player to score 100 on Test debut with his 109* v Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi on Sunday after Charles Bannerman (165*) for Australia v England at Melbourne on 15 March 1877#PakvSL pic.twitter.com/Qd7MEWByT7

�?Arthur_S (@allanholloway) December 16, 2019

Read | Indian T20 League auctions: When and where to watch

Dhananjaya de Silva 

Country: Sri Lanka 

Match/Series: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Tests 

The Sri Lankan all-rounder is having one hell of a year in Test cricket. After promising returns in South Africa, he scored a century against New Zealand at home and hit another in the first Test against Pakistan. Meanwhile, his bowling average has also come down with him averaging less than 30 this year with 9 wickets in seven matches. He is a trustable player in the middle-order from the Sri Lankan ranks.

Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Arun Sankar

Pakistan made bold choices heading into the first Test by sitting out Yasir Shah and Fawad Alam, but the result proved to be a drab draw with the weather deciding Test cricket in Pakistan is not to its taste. Sri Lanka's grit and fight went in vain although given the surface, a result seemed improbable even without much rain. As we gear up for the second Test match at Karachi, the teams will want a full game and so would the fans who have been denied Test match action at home for a decade.

Watch out for: 

Abid Ali - The uproar surrounding Fawad Alam's exclusion - that's all the fervour around Fawad in the last decade - quickly died down as Abid Ali, on Test debut, hit a fine hundred. Incidentally, he had also hit a century on his ODI debut, making it a first for any cricketer. The 32-year old will be keenly watched as Pakistan settle in on an opening combination after a dreadful Australian tour.

Read | Indian T20 League auctions: When and where to watch

West Indies bite back makes series interesting

What was expected to be a one-sided series quickly turned tables as West Indies pulled off a win at Chepauk in the series opener. It was India's first ODI loss at the venue since 2012 and only the fourth overall ODI loss there. The loss means that India are 0-1 behind in the three-match series and this week could make way for some action with the skipper expected to come into action with some aggression, words and the other thing he makes, runs. 

Watch out for: 

Shimron Hetmyer - Shai Hope - Two terrific batsmen in prime form, Hope and Hetmyer were instrumental in giving the Windies a big win at Chennai. But do not put it down to a one-off instance. In 2018 at Vizag in the second ODI between these sides, Hope made 123 while Hetmyer slammed 94 as the game ended in a tie. Next game at Pune, as West Indies won, Hope made 95 and Hetmyer a handy cameo of 37 from the middle-order. The two will be expected to tee off yet again this week in the two remaining ODIs.

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Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Arun Sankar