Samuels' 126 powers WI to 321 against India
KOCHI: Marlon Samuels, playing only his third ODI this year, led a strong West Indies batting effort in the series opener in Kochi, scoring his sixth century - his second against India - to pose a...
October 08, 2014
Both Samuels and Ramdin had scored runs in the two practice games, but what they did not have in those fixtures was a strong start. Today, when the two got together, the scoreboard read 120 for 3. The Indian spinners had neither any purchase nor did they exert any control, and the batsmen built slowly, finding the odd boundary and rotating the strike to keep the run rate above five at the 30-over mark.
It only got better from there. Samuels welcomed Amit Mishra, who struggled with his lines throughout the innings, with a couple of straight sixes in the 31st over, then reached his half-century in the 34th with another straight six, off Suresh Raina. Power was never an issue; Samuels found the distance when he wanted. What was noticeable was the number of singles he took to keep his strike-rate around 100 through his innings.
Ramdin took over from Samuels during the batting Powerplay, smashing a Mohammed Shami full-toss over the cover boundary and helping West Indies swell their score by 16 in that over. He also lofted Jadeja over cover for another smart boundary. At the other end, fielders watched as Samuels' powerful cuts pinged the boundary. That India's bowlers were losing control became apparent in the 40th over as Ravindra Jadeja gave away 10 extra runs through leg-side wides. Fifty-two runs came in the Powerplay and by the end of it, West Indies' run rate had moved to six an over. Samuels reached his century with a calm dab down the ground and although West Indies lost a bit of momentum due to quick wickets, Samuels carried on with precision violence to finish unbeaten on 126.
