After getting outplayed in the Test series, West Indies would have hoped for a much better outcome from the ODIs, but the Indian team didn't make things easy for them in the ODI leg either, as they won the first ODI at the Kensington Oval by five wickets.
The hosts got thoroughly outplayed again, and the loss was a pretty embarrassing one for them. Batting first, West Indies got bundled out for just 114 runs inside 23 overs as the Indian spinners wreaked havoc on the Caribbean batting lineup.
Ravindra Jadeja started the damage, removing Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, and Romario Shepherd in the space of just two overs. Kuldeep Yadav followed up in the act soon as he registered brilliant figures of 3-2-6-4 to increase the miseries of the hosts.
As far as the Indian batting goes, experienced veterans like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli decided to give the youngsters a chance as they didn't bat in the top order. Kohli didn't even come out to bat, whereas Rohit batted at No.7. Ishan Kishan, who scored his maiden Test fifty in the second Test match against West Indies, impressed again as he smashed 52 off just 46 deliveries. The rest of the batting unit couldn't do much, but they contributed enough to chase down a target of 115 runs.
Going into the second match of the series, the Indian team doesn't have much to worry about as they came up with almost a perfect performance on a tough pitch. On the other hand, West Indies need to find answers quickly in case they want to avoid another series loss.
Probable Playing XIs
West Indies
Shai Hope (c & wk), Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Dominic Drakes, Jayden Seales, Gudakesh Motie
India
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar
Key Players
Ravindra Jadeja: The Indian all-rounder picked up three wickets and remained unbeaten on 16 in the last game. He has been consistent with both bat and ball in the previous few years, and he will be a vital weapon for India again in this game.
Shai Hope: The West Indies skipper was the only batter who looked at ease against the Indian bowling in the last game. Hope scored 43 runs and looked pretty good during his stay at the crease. He will be eager to get a good score in this game.
Prediction
A similar story to the first ODI is expected once again. Considering the depth and quality of their batting and bowling lineups, India will dominate. They will start as the favourites to win the match once again.