AHMEDABADL: India defeated the West Indies by six wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series on Sunday.

At the top of the order, skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with an innings of 60 off 51 deliveries, putting on an opening partnership of 84 with Ishan Kishan. India had some troubles in the middle, losing four wickets in quick succession after that.

India lost Kishan, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant in the space of four overs after Rohit departed. However, Suryakumar Yadav and debutant Deepak Hooda put on a 62-run fifth-wicket partnership to take India home safely, assisting the hosts in chasing down the target with six wickets and 22 overs remaining.

Earlier, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first. In the third over, Mohammed Siraj provided them an early breakthrough by dismissing Shai Hope. Following that, Brandon King and Darren Bravo attempted to steer the ship, but Washington Sundar dismissed both of them in the 12th over, ending their 31-run stand.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals after that. Yuzvendra Chahal was brought into the attack and dismissed the dangerous Nicholas Pooran and Kieran Pollard in his first over. Pooran's wicket aided Chahal's achievement of 100 ODI wickets. In his following over, he also dismissed Shamarh Brooks, and Prasidh Krishna followed with the wicket of Akeal Hossein, leaving West Indies reeling at 79/7.

The end appeared to be near for West Indies, but Jason Holder and Fabian Allen came to the rescue, adding 78 runs for the eighth wicket. Allen was caught and bowled by Sundar for 29 runs, bringing the partnership to an end. Holder continued for a while and reached fifty, but Krishna ended his fighting knock when he was caught behind for a fantastic knock of 57. West Indies didn't last long after Holder was dismissed, as they were eventually bowled out for 176.

Chahal was the pick of the Indian bowlers, registering figures of 4/49. Sundar was also impressive, with 3/30. Chahal was duly named Player of the Match for his outstanding bowling performance. The second ODI between India and the West Indies will be played on February 9th.

Edited - SportsAction / Inputs - Agency