Virat Kohli becomes sixth king as India crush West Indies in Trivandrum

Brief Scores: India (300/2 in 41.4 overs) beat West Indies (295/7) by 8 wickets in Thiruvananthapuram.

There are shifts that confirm the player is still around, and then there are shifts that make the conversation around him somewhat silly. Virat Kohli produced the latter in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, smashing an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls as India chased down West Indies 295/7 in 41.4 overs to win by eight wickets with 50 balls to spare.

Kohli simply did not anchor the chase. He went after it. He scored his 55th ODI hundred in 74 balls, hitting a career-high nine sixes in an ODI innings and finished the match with back-to-back maximums against Keacy Carty. He also became only the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to reach 15,000 ODI runshe did so in his 303rd innings, 74 innings faster than his idol.

IND vs WI, 1st ODI: MAIN

For a while it looked like it might be Shubman Gill’s night. The India captain made 110, his 10th ODI hundred, and reached the landmark in the 31st over. He was given a life on 11, but once settled, Gill controlled the chase beautifully. Rohit Sharma also started positively at the other end but was dismissed for 32 by Alzarri Joseph after another brisk start.

Then Kohli came in and changed the mood of the chase.

He attacked almost immediately, especially against Alzarri, and didn’t feel weighed down by the 15,000 run milestone. He raced to his fifty in 40 balls, got to 59 off 46 to complete the milestone and then just kept going. West Indies dismissed him for 125 and followed with a knock that has been absent from recent talk of his ODI future. Nine sixes, 13 fours and 139 not out from 88 balls. If there were still doubts about whether Kohli had enough left for the 2027 ODI World Cup, it was another emphatic reminder of his calibre.

The chase was made possible by Kuldeep Yadav in the first over. West Indies pushed to 135 for the opening wicket through Justin Greaves and John Campbell, with Greaves battling injury to reach his maiden ODI hundred. He scored 101 off 108 balls while Campbell made 62. Kuldeep then tore through the middle order with 4/40, removing Campbell, Shai Hope, Greaves and Jewel Andrew and pulling West Indies back from a position where 320 plus looked possible.

KOHLI UNLOCKS GOD MODE

The highlight of Kohli’s innings wasn’t even the 15,000-run milestone. It was a blow.

It didn’t take him long to take on Alzarri Joseph. The boundaries kept getting closer, the sixes were more frequent and the strike rate kept rising. By the time he reached his hundred, the famous Kohli had transformed into a much more devastating version of himself.

Nine sixes was a new high for Kohli in an ODI innings. He had never before crossed the 50-plus international rope so many times and continued the journey even after reaching three figures. The last two balls of the match disappeared behind the boundary as Kohli finished unbeaten on 139 off 88.

The shift that stood out was freedom. He wasn’t just collecting singles and waiting to die. He was hitting the bowlers during the chase and once he found his rhythm, West Indies struggled to contain him.

The 15,000 run milestone added another layer to the occasion. Tendulkar, Kohli’s idol, reached the target in his 377th ODI innings. Kohli did it in his 303rd over, becoming only the second batsman in men’s ODI history to cross the 15,000 mark.

The century was another record in itself. Kohli now has 55 ODI hundreds, extending his lead over Tendulkar’s 49 at the top of the format’s century list. Against the West Indies, meanwhile, he continues to produce. He had already scored 2,261 ODI runs against them before this innings, including nine centuries, and added another hundred to that tally in Thiruvananthapuram.

DON’T FORGET GILL’S CENTURY

It would be unfair to let Kohli’s brilliance completely swallow what Gill has produced. The captain’s 110 was the right innings in building the chase with enough aggression to keep India comfortably ahead of the required rate without taking any unnecessary risks.

Gill had Rohit for company at the start and the pair put India in a strong position before Rohit fell for 32. The former captain looked good but another promising start failed to produce any big scores.

Gill then settled into the innings and became a constant presence at the other end while Kohli took charge of the acceleration. His 10th ODI hundred came in the 31st over when he smashed Jayden Seales over mid-wicket for four before removing his helmet to acknowledge the Thiruvananthapuram crowd.

This milestone also took Gill into the exclusive group of Indian batters. He became only the fourth Indian captain to score an ODI century against the West Indies, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli. It was his 10th ODI hundred overall, bringing him level with MS Dhoni for the joint fourth most ODI centuries by an Indian batter.

Gill’s hundred could have made the headlines on another day. Instead, he became a support act for Kohli’s extraordinary attack.

The West Indies also made life difficult for themselves. Gill was dismissed on 11, Rohit was given a reprieve earlier and Kohli was dismissed on 125. Against an Indian side with such high batting quality, these chances were dear.

KULDEEP COVERS FOR PACERS

India’s batting made the chase look straightforward, but the first innings was much less comfortable.

Greaves and Campbell dismantled the attack early, putting on 135 in 19.2 overs. Greaves was particularly tough against the seamers, reaching his fifty off 42 balls and then going on through injury to complete his maiden ODI hundred. His 101 came from 108 balls and included 12 fours.

For most of this opening partnership, India lacked the control they would normally expect from their fast attack. Greaves found plenty of space to play his shots while Campbell attacked Ravindra Jadeja early. The openers from the West Indies pushed the score to six and over and suddenly a sizeable first innings total was on the cards.

That’s where Kuldeep entered.

The left-arm wrister had already left Campbell guessing with his variations before finally making him mis-swing. Shai Hope followed after being fooled by a subtle line change and then Kuldeep removed Greaves and Jewel Andrew with successive deliveries.

Greaves was bowled and given out lbw, while Andrew had little reply to googlies at mid-off and down the line. West Indies went from 176/1 to 198/5 in a matter of deliveries.

Amir Jangoo’s unbeaten 58 helped West Indies recover to take their total to 295/7, but Kuldeep did enough to stop what looked like a potential 320-plus score. His 4/40 was a spell that gave India a platform to chase.

It also leaves one clear area for India to work on. Seamers struggled to contain Greaves and Campbell and Kuldeep’s intervention was needed to pull the innings back. With Jasprit Bumrah away for the Asian Games and India looking to settle their combination ahead of the 2027 FIFA World Cup, the next two ODIs will offer another opportunity to assess the attack.

India now head to Guwahati for the second ODI on September 30 before the series moves to Mullanpur for the third and final match on October 3.

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