All posts by csb10.top

Japan have qualified for next year’s ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa – the first time the country has qualified for a cricket World Cup at men’s, women’s or junior level – in bizarre circumstances. They secured their place in the tournament after Papua New Guinea – their opponents for Saturday’s final group match in ICC Under-19 East Asia-Pacific Regional Qualifier – forfeited the game in Sano. The forfeit occurred when PNG could not field a team for the final day’s play after Cricket PNG suspended 11 of its 14 squad members “for internal disciplinary reasons and failing to adhere to our strict codes of conduct,” according to a statement issued over Facebook by Cricket PNG.Japan, who were the hosts, and PNG were both undefeated, with three victories each heading into Saturday’s final day of group play at the Sano International Cricket Ground, a turf facility located 100 km north of Tokyo. Both teams had defeated Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu in their opening three encounters and had a scheduled off-day on Friday June 7, ahead of their de facto final on Saturday, before a statement was issued by the ICC announcing that PNG had forfeited due to the suspensions en masse.Japan participated in the East Asia-Pacific Regional Under-19 Qualifier for the first time since 2011. In their three prior appearances – 2007, 2009 and 2011 – Japan had only won one of 11 matches, a 24-run win over Fiji. This year’s squad is a cosmopolitan mix of Japanese players, along with several players of other ethnicities.PNG had won the East Asia-Pacific Under-19 championship seven consecutive times from 2002 through 2014. But this is the second time in the last three tournaments that they have failed to take the regional berth to secure a spot in the Under-19 World Cup, having finished runner-up to Fiji four years ago albeit under more traditional circumstances.The Japan Cricket Association was first established in 1984 before the country became an ICC Associate Member in 1995. The closest the Japan men’s team came to reaching the World Cup was their participation in 2008 WCL Division Five in Jersey, a tournament more famous for being the start of Afghanistan’s journey up the world rankings. Japan were relegated to Division Seven after that event, and after they lost a semi-final to Ghana in 2012 WCL Division Eight in Samoa they were dumped out of the World Cricket League for good, effectively closing the door on a pathway to qualify for a men’s World Cup.The Japan women’s team has also struggled competitively over the years. Most recently, they finished fifth out of six teams in the Women’s East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup Qualifier held last month in Vanuatu. Their only win came by 31 runs over Fiji.

Pakistan know that defeat to South Africa on Sunday is virtually not an option if they are to stem the backlash the team are facing at home after their defeat to India. Ever since the loss, speculation in Pakistan has been rife once again of factionalism within the side and of deteriorating support for the captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.That was rubbished by Mohammad Hafeez on Thursday and on Friday one of their most resolute World Cup performers, left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz, turned up at Lord’s to remind fans that, “none of us like the fact that we lost to India, we feel very strongly at having disappointed people, I’d say we are more hurt and disappointed than people back at home.”When asked whether the public disappointment to the defeat had affected the team, Wahab said “there is demoralisation when they are personal attacks on us in the media. Criticise us, criticise our performances and we will accept it because we want to do perform better.” He said that what bothered players was when the criticism of the players involved their families as it has in the case of Shoaib Malik. “I think if people stay away from getting our families into it and focus on our game, that’s more important.”Wahab is in his third World Cup, one of the team’s more experienced players, and said that the team has found a way to band together to prepare for the South Africa match. “The players are each other’s strength. When we speak to people at home, they tell us why did you do this, if you’d done that, you’d have done better. So as a team we know we can lift each other up more than what even our families can do.”He reminded the public back home that “Pakistan plays better under pressure and inshallah, we will quality for the finals and semi-finals.” Accepting that the team’s progress in the competition was beyond their direct results, Wahab said, “Our focus is on beating South Africa, and we know we shouldn’t get ahead or think about the future. We need to go one by one on what do every day. On what we do in the now and not what is happening elsewhere. We shouldn’t be thinking about the future beyond the one by one. Everything one by one.”He did say that he thought the Pakistan team had “more talent” than the South Africans despite the quality of the opposition bowling. “But execution of skills is everything,” he added. “They have failed in that aspect as well like we did, we had matches we could have won. In this match it depends on who handles pressure better and plays better. They will win.”The team had spoken about their cricket and their mistakes in past matches “openly.” “Good teams are those that discuss and talk about their mistakes openly to each other and we’ve done that. Inshallah we will make up for our mistakes.”The “small things”, Wahab said, was keeping control of their innings with the bat and taking early wickets with the ball. Pakistan conceded more than 130 runs before taking a wicket in their defeats to Australia and India. Against Australia, he said, “it was a 260-270 wicket [Australia scored 307] and we didn’t bowl well at the start. In England it is important to strike with the new ball. If you take wickets up front it affects that batting team. If you don’t…this a high scoring World Cup.”The match against India, where Pakistan conceded 336 he said was “a pressure game and every player feels it. But we didn’t play as well as we can. We didn’t play as good as we are. And we need to play better. We were in very good positions with our batting against Australia and then we gave it away. We did the same against India. We will need to do the small things better and we need to be in control of those. We need to play our A game throughout.”

Aiden Markram produced a stunning all-round performance as Hampshire made it three wins from three in the Royal London Cup with a 119-run victory over Middlesex.South African opener Markram, who is warming up for this summer’s World Cup, crashed 88 with the bat off 90 balls to help Hampshire to 301 for 9 before his part-time off-spin gathered 3 for 39.Liam Dawson and Kyle Abbott also posted excellent figures of 3 for 37 and 3 for 36 respectively, as Hampshire won with 80 balls to spare.One-day champions Hampshire have defeated Kent, Glamorgan and Middlesex to leap to the top of the South Group.Middlesex had won the toss and elected to field first under grey skies.In response, Markram’s compatriot Abbott broke through twice in the first five overs of the chase as he had Paul Sterling leg before and then Dawid Malan caught at point by James Fuller.John Simpson and Eoin Morgan rebuilt with a free-flowing 65-run stand for the third wicket. But Markram entered fresh from his fifty earlier on to forge a collapse – with Simpson, Morgan and Nick Gubbins all falling within six overs.Simpson was stumped after some fantastic glovework from Tom Alsop. England one-day skipper Morgan was given extra lives when he offered two difficult chances to Rilee Rossouw on the boundary, before picking out Abbott at short fine leg. Gubbins then cut to Sam Northeast and George Scott was castled by Dawson – leaving Middlesex 121 for 6.Left arm spinner Dawson found Tom Helm skying to Gareth Berg in the ring and then Nathan Sowter caught behind.Abbott claimed his third wicket when Steve Eskinazi picked out Northeast at mid-wicket before Mason Crane wrapped up the win when Tim Murtagh was bowled.Middlesex seamer Helm had led the visitors’ attack with a five-wicket haul on a used pitch – which had played slightly slower than against Glamorgan on FridayAlsop went out at a rate of knots, following his 130 not out against Glamorgan, with three sumptuous cut shots to the boundary. But he fell soon after as he chased a wide delivery from Murtagh and was caught behind, before James Vince handed Helm his first with a steepling top edge.Markram scored a stylish run-a-ball half century in a 58-run stand with Northeast. But Markram and Northeast fell within an over of each other, the former frustratingly misjudging a pull to mid-on and the latter lbw to Nathan Sowter – leaving Hampshire looking below par at 145 for 4.Rossouw and Dawson steadied and accelerated with an 81-run partnership for the fifth wicket, the South African collected his 32nd List A fifty – from 49 balls.Dawson was well caught by Murtagh running around to short fine leg off a top edge before Helm returned to cause carnage. The 24-year-old fast bowler ripped through Rossouw and Berg in consecutive balls before completing a stunning four wickets in eight balls with the scalps of Abbott and James Fuller – the latter having smashed a quick-fire 26.Chris Wood took Hampshire past 300 with a sweetly struck six over square-leg to set their opposition 302 to win.

Half-centuries from New South Wales openers Daniel Hughes and Nick Larkin helped the Blues push beyond 300 on a vital opening day against Tasmania in Hobart.Needing a victory to all-but assure a spot in the Shield final against Victoria the Blues were sent in on a Bellerive pitch that has been brutally tough to bat first on all season, but Hughes and Larkin weathered the incessant swing and seam movement to post a 99-run opening partnership.Hughes was particularly fluent, striking 11 boundaries as he passed 50 for the sixth time this season. He fell to an incredible reflex catch from Matthew Wade at first slip. Hughes edged a ball off the back foot from Jackson Bird straight to Alex Doolan at second slip, Doolan spilt the chance but Wade’s stunning reflexes scooped the rebound inches above the turf.Larkin’s vigil last much longer. He absorbed 153 balls for his 67 and lost his stand-in skipper Kurtis Patterson in the process before he guided an outside edge straight to Doolan at second slip off Simon Milenko.The allrounder also picked Moises Henriques in the same spell before Bird returned to remove debutant Nick Bertus to leave the Blues vulnerable at 5 for 189.But youngsters Jason Sangha and Jack Edwards steadied with a 74-run stand before both fell to the second new ball.Sangha was trapped lbw by Bird for a patient 37 to give him three wickets for the day and do his Ashes hopes no harm. Edwards struck six boundaries in a brisk 44 before edging Riley Meredith to first slip.That would be Tasmania’s last wicket of the day as debutant wicketkeeper Baxter Holt and Trent Copeland added an unbeaten 46 in less than 10 overs to take the Blues past 300 at stumps. Copeland reached 30 not out from just 31 balls with five boundaries and will have a licence to press further on day two.

Trent Boult is prepared for more toil in Wellington during a season that has seen some back-breaking work for the New Zealand quicks.In December, New Zealand went wicketless during the fourth day against Sri Lanka as Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews added 276 in 109 overs before rain helped the visitors come out with a draw.The New Zealand bowlers have become used to having to put in the hard yards during second innings on home soil. Although they won the second Test against Sri Lanka by a handsome 423 runs in Christchurch it took them 106 overs to claim the ten wickets then last week in Hamilton saw Bangladesh make 429 in 103 overs before New Zealand wrapped up an innings win.New Zealand may not play as much Test cricket is some other nations, but overs still stack up and Boult is expecting another Basin Reserve wicket that will challenge the bowlers as the match progresses.Anyone for spin?•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“There have been a lot of batting records here for a reason, it’s a very solid wicket and it only gets better. I’m sure they’ll leave a touch of green for the seamers to enjoy but we just need to focus on what we do well as a bowling unit,” Boult said. “I’m expecting similar conditions [to the Sri Lanka Test]. Hopefully we don’t experience a day four where it was chanceless and wicketless. If so, we need to find a way to take wickets and we feel we have the ability in the group to do it.”And, so far this season, it has been exclusively the quick bowlers who have done the damage with them claiming 52 wickets to zero for the spinners.With the New Zealand bowlers preparing for conditions which become more benign as the match progresses they are focused on making a strong start to take advantage of any life on the pitch over the first couple of days. Although their victory in Hamilton was handsome they struggled for early inroads: in the first innings Bangladesh were 121 for 1 before collapsing and in the second Tamim Iqbal and Shadman Islam added 88 for the first wicket.”There are few areas we need to work on from how we turned up in Hamilton,” Boult said. “We’d like to start a lot better, put more pressure on their top order and take a lot more early wickets because I guess they’ll have gained a lot of confidence of being able to put [nearly] 700 runs on us. We are definitely looking to rectify that.”One thing Bangladesh can expect plenty more of is short bowling, led by Neil Wagner. “I’m pretty sure they’ll be expecting it,” Boult said. “In my opinion it’s a tactic which works well when there’s not in the wicket, there’s no swing, and you not left with many other options. We have Wags who is an expert at being able to execute that plan but it’s been pretty effective for us so expect it will be more of the same.”

With the five-match ODI series against India already lost after three games, James Neesham and Todd Astle have been brought back into the New Zealand fold, and will be available for selection for the fourth and fifth games in Hamilton (January 31) and Wellington (February 3).Neesham replaced fellow fast-bowling allrounder Doug Bracewell, while Astle came in as the premier legspinner in place of Ish Sodhi.

NZ squad for last two ODIs

Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor

Neesham was a part of the three-ODI series against Sri Lanka in early January before suffering a grade-one hamstring strain. He has since returned to the field, turning out for Wellington in the Super Smash and proving his fitness.Astle had been out of action since November last year with a knee injury, but, like Neesham, returned in the Super smash, where he played four games for Canterbury in January.Picking Neesham, who has played 44 ODIs, and Astle, who has appeared in only six games in the format, were in line with the team’s plans in the run-up to the World Cup, said Gavin Larsen, the New Zealand selector.”Doug and Ish have been two of the brighter spots of the ODI series so far and we’ve been encouraged by their performances against a quality Indian side,” he said. “It’s great to welcome back the all-round skills of Jimmy and Todd and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can bring to the series.”We’re still looking to keep our options open with selections at this stage and ensure we continue to learn as much as we can about our players.”

Saurashtra’s loss to Vidarbha briefly reopened talks of the team not able to get past the final hurdle – this was their third straight loss in a Ranji Trophy final – but Jaydev Unadkat, their captain, felt there were enough encouraging signs to bank on in the future.”I think any loss would be disappointing, but I don’t think it’s more painful than the last two [finals],” he said. “The brand of cricket we played and developed this year has been special. The difference between what we lost when we lost the last couple of finals and this final was obviously the fight we put up. This special bunch of players that have really done so well and have the capability of winning the title. So, I would say it’s not really painful this time around. I am really happy and proud with the way the guys put up this fight throughout this season, not just this match.”Sitanshu Kotak, Saurashtra’s coach, said the biggest turning point in the final came when Vidarbha’s lower order rescued them from a precarious 139 for 6 in the first innings and went on to more than double the score.”To get to 312 on such a wicket where batting first was an advantage was a big thing,” Kotak said. “If we could have restricted them to 250, it could have made a difference. [After] losing the toss on that kind of wicket we knew that it would become a difficult pitch to bat on in both second and fourth innings, so it was important to restrict them. At 139 for 6 we had the opportunity. If we had restricted them to 50-60 runs less then we would have also got to bat earlier than when we batted on a pitch which was deteriorating gradually from day two. “Kotak said despite that setback 200 was chaseable. “For me 200 was still on. It wasn’t a score that you can’t chase. I thought we had a 50-50 chance. We could have done with one good partnership.”Kotak has been part of Saurashtra’s all three losses in a Ranji final – first as a player in 2012-13 and then as coach in 2015-16 and now – but still he remained positive.”In the last four years Saurashtra have contested three major finals – two Ranji and once in Vijay Hazare Trophy,” he said. “So I cannot be more critical of my players.”In a contest that went into the fifth day, Unadkat singled out Vidarbha’s spinners, particularly Aditya Sarwate, for making the difference. His twin strikes of Cheteshwar Pujara for 1 and 0 in both innings left Saurashtra’s middle order with a tall task on a challenging VCA surface. Sarwate took a match haul of 11 for 157 to finish the season as the third-highest wicket-taker, with 55 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 19.67.”It’s all down to a couple of mistakes together, that said, their spinners bowled better than ours,” Unadkat conceded. “Even to Cheteshwar [Pujara], the way he bowled, credit has to go to Aditya. The way he kept bowling at him, if Pujara would’ve settled on that wicket, he could have defined the game. To get him out early in both innings is creditable, that’s why they came out on top of us.”Unadkat repeatedly pointed towards Saurashtra’s new brand of cricket. He underlined this by explaining how a young batting line-up punched above its weight at different times this season, none more significant than in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, where they chased down 372 and 279 against Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively.Unadkat also spent considerable time explaining why the loss – as hard at it was to swallow – also gave hope of a brighter future. He was asked point blank if the team froze at the finish line, he was asked if they were “soft”, but the captain countered it calmly and went the extra mile to put his views across.Cheteshwar Pujara during a practice session•Ekana Cricket Media/ Randhir Dev

“I don’t think so, the way we have played, if you’ve seen us play in the quarters or semis, the intensity we showed, it didn’t come across as soft at all,” he said. “We play to win, we will play to win, this is the spirit. Desperation arises from the fact that when you lose, you start the blame game, and want to take credit when the team wins. That isn’t the case with our team. Even when we lose, we learn from our mistakes, when we win, it’s not about me or Cheteshwar. We weren’t desperate. Yes, we were eager.Unadkat refused to be drawn into Pujara’s fourth-innings dismissal as a major reason for their inability to chase down 207. “I always believe in a fourth-innings chase, a couple of guys have to step up, either the openers or the guys batting at No. 3 or 4 to really chase it down. Because pressure takes toll on anyone, be it any player,” he said. “In a game like this, the pressure would be high on players. I still feel they put up a fight; we fought till the end, till the last wicket was lost. It’s just about one bad innings, one collapse. That was the difference between both sides.”As someone coming in to play the knockouts after a successful tour of Australia, Pujara’s words to the team in the dressing room, after they had lost, spoke of the character and spirit this Saurashtra side stood for.”Cheteshwar himself said, whatever teams he’s played in, the kind of team spirit we’ve shown this season is unmatchable,” Unadkat revealed. “We really don’t have too many players who are playing for India or India A, so it has to be the team that has to do well and that’s what we have been doing.

The offspinner William Somerville, who played a starring role on debut as New Zealand beat Pakistan last week, has not been included to play the upcoming home Test series against Sri Lanka. The 13-man squad that was announced on Monday had only one slow bowler in it – Ajaz Patel, who claimed a five-wicket haul in a dramatic four-run victory in Abu Dhabi last month.Meanwhile, 26-year old opening batsman Will Young earned his maiden-call up to international cricket. He was told of the development soon after scoring a century in a one-day game for New Zealand A against India A in Mount Maunganui.”Came off the field after a loss, which was a big disappointment,” Young said. “But [selector] Gavin Larsen just asked me, pulled me aside and said I made the Test squad, the 13-man Test squad. Look, I’m over the moon. It’s a dream come true to be part of the Test squad. But yeah, nothing changes. Keep enjoying my cricket. Keep batting and hopefully the chance comes in the near future.”Heading out to the UAE, I just wanted to do as well as I possibly could. I’ve had a couple of A chances before before and didn’t go to plan so I knew it was do or die. Managed to put some performances together and thankfully the selectors have taken note of that. It’s really nice to get the reward at the end of it.”Young has played 66 first-class matches for Central Districts and scored 4221 runs at an average of 41, including six centuries and 27 fifties. He was part of the A squad that went on tour to the UAE in October and has been in a rich vein of form over recent weeks. He was the only New Zealand A batsman to score a century on the UAE tour, one of the three hundreds in his last ten innings across one- and four-day cricket.Back-up wicketkeeper Tom Blundell was also left out of the touring party that secured New Zealand’s first series win over Pakistan away from home in 49 years.The selectors, however, kept their faith in Tom Latham, who managed 99 runs in his last six Test innings, and Matt Henry, who played one match against Pakistan, despite being picked in the ODI and Test squads. While Latham will likely retain his place at the top of the order, Henry will face stiff competition again to break into a bowling attack that already includes Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner.New Zealand will play Sri Lanka in two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I, starting from December 15.”There’s a real swell of support for the Test team following their efforts in the UAE, so we’re hoping to transition that momentum into a big home summer,” Larsen said.”Ajaz certainly grabbed his opportunity on the UAE tour and he’s a proven performer in New Zealand conditions.”Will Somerville was an obvious stand-out on debut in the Abu Dhabi decider and it’s great to know we’ve got quality spin bowlers who can create competition for places.”The first international of the home summer is always an exciting time and the revamped Basin Reserve should be a fitting setting to launch the Sri Lankan tour.”New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner

Jack Leach has described his run-out of Kusal Mendis on the fourth afternoon in Colombo as “the best moment” of his career to date.Leach finished the series as England’s equal-leading wicket-taker – he and Moeen Ali both claimed 18 – but it was the moment of brilliance in the field that gave him most pleasure.That’s probably understandable, too. Leach is a sound fielder but his direct hit from deep backward square leg – every bit of 50 metres from the stumps at the non-striker’s end – was sensational.Leach initially seemed just a little slow to reach the ball played towards him by Roshen Silva. But, alert to the situation and heeding his team-mates’ calls to throw to the other end, Leach threw with admirable power and left Mendis well short with a direct hit.It was an inspired piece of fielding, for sure, and drew comparison with Ben Stokes’ run-out of Dimuth Karunaratne in Pallakele and the excellent work Keaton Jennings has been doing at short leg as key moments that have made the difference between the teams.It was an important moment, too. Mendis, who had made 86, appeared to be batting Sri Lanka back into contention in the third Test, adding 102 for the fifth-wicket with Roshen. England were starting to look just a little flat and just a little nervous.”I would love to say I’ve been working on those long-distance throws but I’d be lying,” Leach admitted. “I’ve never done anything like that and actually think it was the best moment of my career so far.”My towel at the back of my trousers wasn’t quite in properly so, just before the ball came to me, I quickly threw it to the boundary. And then suddenly it looked like they were going to run two and I thought ‘oh no! I’ve conceded two here and I shouldn’t have done that.'”So, I just launched it towards the stumps and thought ‘that’s going to hit’ and luckily it did. So I was a bit lucky, really. It was a big moment.”Leach admitted he was close to exhaustion by the end of the game. The burden of bowling more overs than any other England bowler in the series, in back-to-back Tests and brutally hot conditions, was starting to take its toll, so he confessed his primary emotion upon taking the final wicket was simply relief that he could return to the air-conditioned dressing room.”I’m absolutely knackered,” he said. “I thought it was hot during the first two Tests, but then I got to Colombo and was like ‘maybe it wasn’t that hot [before].’ Because it turns out Colombo is proper sweaty.”Sri Lanka pushed us all the way. After the tea break Joe Root threw me the ball and I had to get the body going again. So I was just happy to get that wicket and get off the pitch.”It has tested me physically, definitely. None of the guys are used to this so it is even more special that we could put in good performances to get the win.”At the moment I just don’t want to play cricket ever again, I’m so tired. But I’ll give it a couple of weeks and then I’ll be keen to get back in the gym and work on some things that I feel I can get better at and get myself ready for the Caribbean if I’m picked.”He needn’t worry about selection. His is certain to be in the tour party and has a decent chance of winning selection even if England play only two spinners in some games in the Caribbean. And, even though he stresses that “everyone contributed” to the team’s success, he does accept he has had “a great trip”.”It is a huge thrill to come out here and take wickets on spinning tracks,” he said. “There have been ups and downs, but to come out on top with a 3-0 result is amazing.”It has been a great trip for me. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot through winning games, which is how you want it. But I also think I need to keep getting better so this tour will really help me.”Everyone has contributed: Stokesy’s run-out in Kandy and his spell of bowling here; Keaton’s fielding at short leg. Little things have made a big difference. And the way the batters have played has been something special. Rooty asked us to be brave with the bat and we’ve done that. It’s special result. I’m just glad to have been able to play my part and be involved.”

Shimron Hetmeyer scored his third hundred in only his 13th ODI, a display of attractive strokeplay, but it only set up a festive bonanza for a sold-out Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The hapless West Indies bowlers found themselves caught in a hit-out between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who chased down 323 with ridiculous ease.Kohli scored his 36th ODI hundred – his 22nd in chases – and Rohit his 20th. They added 246 delightful runs, their 15th century partnership and fifth of 200 or more. This partnership’s aggregate is now only five behind Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan in this era of Indian ODI cricket. Dhawan’s early exit, to the impressively quick Oshane Thomas, was the last moment of joy for West Indies.What happened earlier would have seemed satisfying to captain Jason Holder, who had asked his team to score 300 regularly, but on a flat Indian track, against this top order, they were 40 too short. And for that they had their batsmen to blame: so many of them got starts – Kieran Powell even got to fifty – but only Hetmeyer reached three figures, and even he left the job unfinished. It was left to Kemar Roach and Devendra Bishoo to bat out the last six overs, which they did admirably, adding 44, but that was the time when a proper batsman should have been putting Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami, not India’s first-choice ODI quicks, under pressure and taking the team past 350.The drastic change in the conditions and the ball from Test cricket was evident in how Hetmeyer turned it all around. After averaging 12.5 in the Test series, he hit a 78-ball 106, attacking despite wickets falling at the other end. In isolation, Hetmeyer’s hitting was sensational. He hit six sixes and six fours, and did so when conventional thinking would have called for consolidation and rebuilding. When Hetmeyer started, Kieran Powell had just brought a tame end to his similarly sensational but half-as-long innings with a hit straight to long-on. When Marlon Samuels was out for a second-ball duck, West Indies were 86 for 3 in the 16th over.This is usually the time when India turn the screws, especially given their middle-overs wicket-taking form, the best since the Champions Trophy bar Afghanistan, who get to play lesser opposition. However, they were without the injured Kedar Jadhav and they had left out Kuldeep Yadav for this match. Kuldeep was also the man who had dismissed Hetmeyer in three of his four innings in the Test series.With nobody turning the ball away from him, Hetmeyer set himself up for big hits frequently. It was almost like taking a single was the last option in his mind. He was ferocious on the pull, and upset the spinners with his powerful sweeps. Seventy-five of his runs came through 34 scoring shots into the leg side. The wickets kept falling despite partnerships. Hetmeyer kept going, bringing up his hundred with a stylish off-driven six off Shami in the 38th over.At 246 for 5, West Indies would have hoped for another 100 at least in the remaining overs. And then Hetmeyer mistimed a sweep off Jadeja, and wickets began falling again. The fall of wickets continued at the start of the second innings with Thomas announcing himself with an early spell in which he hit the high 140s consistently.Thomas’ pace was his enemy in these conditions with little help from the conditions. West Indies knew they couldn’t afford to let Kohli get into his innings so they attacked him more. Two slips, bouncers, the works. This spell of play was electric, but it eventually left West Indies shocked. Every minute error in length or line was punished by Kohli. Before they realised what had hit them, Kohli had reached fifty in 35 balls. Rohit, 18 off 21, looked like Mother Teresa in comparison.Pretty soon it was clear West Indies had been below par with the bat. With the ball, they were dejected after that early Kohli onslaught. Kohli even played the cut regularly – or the back-foot drive that comes close to resembling it. It is not a shot he plays that often, but he knew he was going to be tested with the short stuff, and he wasn’t going to let bowlers dictate in these conditions.Once spin came on, it was cash-in time. Rohit played himself in, and once he began hitting out, the bowlers were like a little ball caught in a pinball machine with two extremely long flippers. If one didn’t get them, the other did. Shot for shot, the two matched each other. Kohli took the ground, Rohit the airspace. Kohli hit 21 fours to Rohit’s 15, Rohit eight sixes to Kohli’s two.Too stunned to react, the bowlers just kept turning up to claim their punishment. Never mind the two no-balls by legspinner Devendra Bishoo, there was one for West Indies having one fielder too few in the circle. Not that it mattered even when they could push that man out after the 40th over. Rohit hit Thomas for three successive fours before bringing up the win and also his sixth ODI 150 with a six over long-off.