Contrasting hundreds from Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope helped West Indies off to a winning start in the three-match ODI series against India with an eight-wicket victory. The hosts, asked to bat, rode on a strong middle order show - led by fifties from Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant - to post a competitive total of 287 for 8 in the opening ODI in Chennai on Sunday (December 15). However, the Indian bowlers did not have any answers to Hetmyer's blitz (139 off 106, 11 fours and 7 sixes) as he scored the bulk of the runs in a 218-run second-wicket stand with Shai Hope (102* off 151, 7 fours and 1 six), who anchored the chase and helped West Indies over the line with 2.1 overs to spare.
West Indies recovered from Sunil Ambris's early dismissal - when he was trapped in front by Deepak Chahar - and an edgy start from Hetmyer to get their chase off to a good start. Hope played the anchor's role while Hetmyer handled the job of finding the fence, which he did regularly to ensure West Indies did not let the required rate creep up too much. Having edged Mohammed Shami a couple of times for boundaries in the sixth over, Hetmyer looked a lot more in control when he took on the spinners, hitting Jadhav for a couple of fours before sending a Kuldeep Yadav delivery over the long-on fence for his first maximum.
Soon after going past fifty, Hetmyer took on Ravindra Jadeja - who had bowled three quiet overs for 10 runs - for two successive sixes to extend the partnership past 100. The feature of Hetmyer's innings was that he put the bowlers under immense pressure with his regular hits to and over the ropes, while Hope was happy to play second fiddle from the other end, focusing on singles and getting his partner back on strike. Even Shami, in his comeback spell, was struck for a six by Hetmyer, who showcased good back-foot play.
India managed to put a lid on the scoring rate by drying up the boundaries, which coincided with Hetmyer suffering a bout of cramps. Hope took as many as 92 deliveries for his fifty while Hetmyer brought up his fifth ODI ton but the required rate also went up as India managed eight overs without conceding a boundary. The drought came to an end in the 35th over when Hetmyer outside edged a Chahar delivery while Hope steered one past third man for a four, with the fours sandwiched between a simple chance that was put down by Iyer at long-on that gave Hetmyer a reprieve. Capitalising on India's big miss, Hetmyer struck two back-to-back sixes off Jadeja to bring the equation below a run-a-ball at the end of the 36th over. The partnership crossed 200, only the third such instance for West Indies against India in ODIs, and Hetmyer continued to hurt India for a golden opportunity missed by taking on debutant Shivam Dube to extend his tally of boundaries.
Iyer eventually held on to the ball in the deep to send back Hetmyer and give Shami a wicket, but the extent of damage done by the left-hander left West Indies with a comfortable equation. India did manage a few tight overs in a bid to turn things around. But the lack of front-line bowling resources towards the end meant that Hope and Nicholas Pooran had the remainder of the chase in their control. Hope registered his eighth ODI hundred with a six and a four off Chahar while Pooran finished it off with a couple of boundaries off Dube as West Indies pulled off the highest successful chase at Chepauk.
Earlier, India found themselves in trouble early in their innings as Sheldon Cottrell used the change of pace to good effect to send back KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in the seventh over. It was an excellent first spell from the left-arm pacer, whose five overs included three maidens and only 12 runs as India could manage only 33 in the first 10. There was also some sharp movement and bounce for Jason Holder, who troubled Rohit a few times. But whenever it was full Rohit was quick to take advantage of it, as did Iyer. The two batsmen also scored boundaries off Hayden Walsh while the other bowlers also didn't pose too many problems until Alzarri Joseph bowled one short and found Rohit late on the pull.
What followed was another phase of rebuilding, with Rishabh Pant managing to tone down his aggression in what was a measured innings as he assisted Iyer in building a productive partnership. Apart from a slow-sweep for a six off Roston Chase, Pant concentrated on strike rotation and putting away the poor deliveries and free-hits. Iyer too was happy milking the singles, with both batsmen crossing the half-century mark in an important partnership on a trying, double-natured pitch. Iyer's first aggressive shot came after his fifty when he sent a Chase delivery over the midwicket boundary and the offspinner came for some stick from Pant, who had picked up pace without attempting anything fancy, hitting his boundaries mostly straight, as the fourth wicket pair extended the partnership past 100.
Pant even had a lucky break when he hit a full delivery from Kieron Pollard straight to cover where Cottrell put down the catch. But both half-centurions fell in quick succession, leaving it to India's all-round options to finish the job. Jadhav and Jadeja took over and did a fine job, with the former playing the role of an aggressor in a breezy fifty-run partnership. Jadhav struck three fours and a six while Jadeja hit two boundaries before both fell in off successive deliveries in the 48th over. India managed 18 in the last two overs to finish on a good note, although the total wasn't quite enough in the end thanks to Hetmyer's fiery performance.
Brief scores: India 288/8 in 50 overs (Rishabh Pant 71, Shreyas Iyer 70, Kedar Jadhav 40; Sheldon Cottrell 2-46) lost to West Indies 291/2 in 47.5 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 139, Shai Hope 102*; Deepak Chahar 1-48) by 8 wickets.

Legendary former West Indian cricketer Basil Butcher passed away Monday night after a prolonged period of illness.
His son, Basil F. Butcher Jr. announced his father’s passing on his Facebook page minutes after his death. In the post, the son said “With a heavy heart I announce our Dad, Husband, Brother, Grandfather, Great-Grandfather and former Guyana and West Indies batting star Basil Butcher Sr. passed earlier this evening in Florida after a long illness.” He was 86.
Hundreds of fans extended condolences to his family as they learnt of his passing.
Stabroek News reported former Mayor of Linden Carwyn Holland saying that Butcher was a man of the community and during his tenure as mayor he would always receive a scolding for affairs of the council that were not done right.
“I grew up hearing about Basil Butcher, my father would always tell me about him when we were talking about West Indies Cricket. Eventually I got to meet him firstly at his store where we used to buy beverages. In my early teens he ran a few coaching sessions and I adopted his batting stance which I occasionally used. From there we developed a great friendship. When I became Mayor of Linden, I had to take scolding for anything wrong in the town, especially for garbage collection.
The right-handed middle order batsman was born in Port Mourant and was the first person of Amerindian descent to represent the West Indies in cricket.
Butcher fought his way to Test level at a time when so many had been knocking at the door of West Indies cricket and failing.
He had made his mark in the County games when Berbice matched strength with Essequibo and Demerara, Stabroek News reported.
Butcher played for the West Indies during the tour of India and Pakistan when he chalked up his first Test hundred and featured in a 200-run partnership with fellow Guyanese star batsman Rohan Kanhai.
ESPN described Butcher as a supple, wristy, resolute batsman, who became a consistently reliable performer. While he had a chequered career in his first Test series, against India in 1958-59, it was in the 1963 tour of England, when he made 383 runs in eight completed innings, including 133 out of 229 in the memorable draw at Lord’s that he shone.
After playing in two fine series against Australia led by Richie Benaud, he was considered the most difficult of all West Indians to get out.
In First Class cricket from 1954 to 1972, he amassed 11,628 runs at an average of 49.99 and this included 31 centuries while capturing 40 wickets. For the West Indies he played 44 Tests recording 3,104 runs at an average of 43.11 with 209 not out being his highest score.
He made 99 in his last Test innings and was given out caught behind. To this day, Basil will say, “I was out. The umpire said so”, reports said.
While Butcher was born on the Corentyne he lived for many years in Linden where he coached young cricketers.

Australia recorded one of their biggest wins over New Zealand on the fourth day of the first Test at Perth Stadium on Sunday. Having trailed by 250 runs on the first innings the Kiwis were set a mammoth 468 to win – which would have been a record chase in Test cricket – on a deteriorating pitch after Australia declared at 217 for nine in their second innings.
The visitors were never in contention after losing their first wicket with just six runs on the board and were unable to push the match into a fifth day after Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins cleaned up the Kiwi tail under lights in Perth’s first ever day-night Test.
New Zealand were dismissed for 171 and were beaten by 296 runs, the last five wickets falling in a hurry for just 17 runs.
It was just one run shy of their biggest losing margin to Australia – in runs – in a match where both teams batted twice.
Australia’s biggest win, other than innings victories, was 297 runs in Auckland in 1974.
Starc (4-45), who claimed nine wickets for the match, and Cummins (2-31) used the pink ball to good effect under lights to bring the match to a quick conclusion after none of the recognised Kiwi batsmen offered significant resistance.
The chase started poorly, with opener Jeet Raval making just one before being caught at gully by Nathan Lyon (4-63) from the bowling of Starc. Star batsman and captain Kane Williamson then made just 14, before falling to Lyon’s first ball of the innings.
Williamson got off to a fast start with boundaries from the first two balls he faced, but was caught at short leg fending a ball that bounced and turned sharply off his glove into the hands of Matthew Wade.
Ross Taylor was their last real hope of making a revival but on 22 he tried to pull a Starc delivery and got a bottom edge through to wicketkeeper Tim Paine to give the left-arm quick his seventh wicket of the match.
Tom Latham showed plenty of application to face 68 balls for his 18, but was given out leg before wicket to Lyon after an Australian DRS review, with umpire Aleem Dar initially giving him not out.
BJ Watling attempted to stem the tide with a gritty 40 and enjoyed a bit of luck as Australia didn’t review when he got a faint outside edge through to Paine.
Smith then dropped a tough chance off the bowling of Lyon at first slip. He was given out on review caught down leg side by Paine off the bowling of Starc after umpire Nigel Llong had turned down the appeal – a dismissal that signalled the end of the Kiwi resistance.
Earlier, Australia’s second innings fell away dramatically after being 131 for one at one stage on the third day.
The home team lost seven wickets for 58 runs, as they struggled against a sustained barrage of short-pitched bowling on another hot Perth day.
Tim Southee again impressed with 5-69, after also picking up four wickets in the first innings.

Pakistan opener Abid Ali became the first batsman to score hundreds on both Test and one-day international debuts when he struck a ton against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Rawalpindi on Sunday.
The match ended in a draw after being badly affected by the weather.
Abid finished with 109 not out and Babar Azam was unbeaten on 102 as Pakistan scored 252-2 in reply to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 308-6 declared.
On 95, the 32-year-old hit paceman Vishwa Fernando for a boundary and then drove him through cover for two to complete his hundred, raising his hands in jubilation before bowing down on the ground.
His feat came on the fifth and final day at Rawalpindi stadium and follows his 112 against Australia in Dubai on his one-day international debut in March this year.
Abid is one of 15 batsmen to score a hundred on a one-day international debut since the inception of limited over cricket in January 1971, but none of the others had a Test debut century as well.
Test cricket started in 1876. Abid is the 11th Pakistani batsmen to score a century on Test debut. Abid's feat spiced up the historic Test, the first in Pakistan since the 2009 attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus left international cricket suspended in the country.
Bad weather hit the Test on all previous four days and only 91.5 overs were played as rain, bad light and overcast conditions affected the game. The fourth day was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
But there was bright sunshine on Sunday as Sri Lanka batted for 20 minutes to declare their first innings at 308-6 with batsman Dhananjaya de Silva scoring an unbeaten 102.
Pakistan lost opener Shan Masood for nought when he drove a full toss from pacer Kasun Rajitha straight into the hands of Dinesh Chandimal at cover, while skipper Azhar Ali scored a shaky 36 before he was caught off paceman Lahiru Kumara.
Dhananjaya finally completed his sixth Test century in the morning.
The 28-year-old right-hander drove paceman Mohammad Abbas for his 15th boundary to bring up the hundred in his 28th Test.
De Silva remained unbeaten on 102 after 241 minutes of batting, having come in with the score on 127-4 on Thursday. Dilruwan Perera remained unbeaten on 16.
The pick of the Pakistan bowlers were 16-year-old pace bowler Naseem Shah, who took 2-92, and Shaheen Shah Afridi with 2-58.
The second Test is in Karachi from Dec 19.

India’s first ODI against West Indies at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai saw a controversial run out that ended Ravindra Jadeja’s stay in the middle. The incident took place in the 48th over when Jadeja tried to steal a single and put Shivam Dube on strike after the dismissal of Kedar Jadhav. Roston Chase picked up the ball and took a shy at the stumps. It was a direct hit, but it appeared that Jadeja had made his ground safely, and the West Indies did not appeal for a run out.
The umpire Shaun George, who was having a close look at the throw, did not go for a TV referral either. Chase made a feeble appeal, but was convinced that Jadeja had made his crease. But the video replays showed that Jadeja was outside the crease when the bails came off.
Immediately after seeing the replays, West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard asked the umpire to call for the third umpire. The umpire checked with match referee David Boon if he can still go for a third umpire call, and got an approval for the same. The third umpire saw the replay once more and ignited the red light.
A miffed Virat Kohli was seen nearby the boundary ropes as the entire scene played out. Later, India coach Ravi Shastri was also seen in the dugout unhappy with the decision.
“The thought is simple, the fielder asked ‘how is that’ and the umpire said ‘not out’. The dismissal ends there. The people sitting on the TV outside cannot tell the fielders to then tell the umpire to review it again. I’ve never seen that happen in cricket. I don’t know where the rules are, where the line is drawn. I think the referee and the umpires have to take that up, see that incident again. And figure out what needs to be done in cricket. People sitting outside can’t dictate what happens on the field. I think that’s exactly what happened there,” Kohli said at the post match presentation.
Harsha Bhogle, who was commentating at the time questioned if an umpire can wait that long for signalling to the third umpire, since it was taken after the players had already seen the replay. “I would be very unhappy if I was from the batting team,” he said.

Scotland went down to UAE by 7 wickets in the final match of the Dubai leg of the World Cup League 2. Man of the match Basil Hameed and Chirag Suri notched up half centuries as UAE made short work of their target of 221 and cantered home with 37 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, having been put into bat by UAE captain Ahmed Raza, Scotland made a brisk start and took advantage of the fielding restrictions against UAE's new ball bowlers Junaid Siddique and a non-regular bowler Darius D'Silva. Kyle Coetzer and Matt Cross scored at run a ball to put on 58 runs at the end of the first power play, which was the most by any team in this tri-series. Coetzer, especially played some marvelous shots through the off side off the back foot as well as the front foot. Cross too took a liking to Siddique's extra pace and used his strong leg side played to good effect by caressing a flick and a brute of a pull shot towards midwicket.
The pair put on a giant stand of 138 in 166 balls before captain Raza stepped in to clean up a reverse sweeping Cross in the 28th over. Having realized they have an iron grip over the game, Scotland decided to throw the kitchen sink at it and sent in George Munsey at the fall of the first wicket. The gamble didn't pay off as Siddique returned to send back Munsey almost immediately owing to a cut shot that went straight to point. Palniappan Meiyappan's twin strikes further dented Scotland's charge as the leg spinner dismissed captain Koetzer 5 runs short of his century where Richie Berrington was trapped in slips with an enticing leg spinner.
The ever effervescent Rohan Mustafa castled Scotland batting premier Callum Macleod with a faster one with Scotland suddently tottering at 185 for 5 from 138 for 0. Mustafa and Siddique combined to clean up the Scotland tail as they got bundled out for 220 with 9 balls remaining in the innings.
UAE then got off to a flyer with the 17-year-old Vriitya Aravind once again showing the way with a couple of crisply struck boundaries towards point and midwicket off Stuart Whittingham. Chirag Suri, his senior partner wasn't far behind in the action as he welcomed the Man of the Match from the previous game, Josh Davey by muscling one on the up towards long on and flicking imperiously towards the midwicket boundary off the very next ball. Suri closed out the first power play with two back-to-back lofted drives over mid on off Mark Watt to take UAE to 62 for no loss at the end of 10th over.
Hamza Tahir drew first blood for Scotland in the 11th over having Vriitya caught down the legside. Jonnathan Figgy, another teenaged batsman in the side walked in and played positively to support Suri who looked set to see UAE through. Figgy played well for his 23 but his brief stay was ended by Budge as Figgy was caught at midwicket, trying to clear the longest part of the ground. Suri departed not long after getting to his half-century. With 83 needed in 23 overs, it was up to Basil Hameed and Mohammad Usman to take UAE home. Hameed played well against the left arm spinners, using his feet to smother turn and also was equally adept in using the depth of the crease to cut and pull effectively. With 36 needed of 11 overs, Mohammad Usman clobbered a couple to cow corner off Macleod in the 40th over, it seemed only a matter of time for UAE to scale Scotland's below par total of 220. The pair duly remained unbeaten with Basil Hameed scoring 63* and Mohammad Usman helping UAE's cause with 36*.
Scotland have now lost to USA and UAE on their Dubai trip. Scotland who rely heavily on their batting unit blew hot and cold in this tournament and they would like to rectify some of those chinks in their armor in their offseason which stretches untill March. UAE on the other hand would be buoyant by posting a win against a top associate nation with a fairly young side who are still finding their feet in cricket.

Headline News >