Kohli obliterates record but 2nd ODI ends in a tie
Visakhapatnam, Oct 24: Run-machine Virat Kohli sprinted to fastest 10,000 ODI runs but West Indies stole a tie from India with Shai Hope's gutsy hundred in an exhilarating second one-dayer here on Wednesday.
India notched up 321 for six, while the West Indies, needing 14 runs in the final over and five off the last ball, levelled the score with Hope (123 not out) cutting Umesh Yadav for a boundary.
Besides Hope's ton, there was also Shimron Hetmyer's 94-run blitzkrieg.
Kuldeep Yadav showed his worth again with three wickets.
Opting to bat, Kohli fired 157 off 129 balls, while Ambati Rayudu, who is seen as the answer to the team's persistent problems at the number four slot by Kohli himself, made a fluent 73 off 80 deliveries.
The 29-year-old Kohli, who hit 13 boundaries and four sixes, bettered the iconic Sachin Tendulkar's record by an incredible 54 innings, and then went past 1000 runs in the calendar year in only 11 innings, which is also the fastest.
During their stay in the middle, the two were involved in a partnership of 139 runs in 142 balls for the third wicket at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, set amidst picturesque hills.
While he acknowledged the fans' applause by raising his bat after reaching the 10k landmark, the crowd was on its feet again when Kohli creamed Marlon Samuels to the cover boundary to bring up his century, his 37th in this format.
Kohli pulled, cut, flicked and drove in the manner he does best before cutting loose towards the end.
A six down the ground off debutant left-arm pacer Obed McCoy brought up 1,000 runs for him in the year.
He then deposited McCoy over long-on for another maximum and in the next over, smashed Roach for a six and two fours to power his team past 300.
India were, however, off to a poor start when Rohit Sharma (4) was dismissed early by Kemar Roach in the fourth over of the day.
After the fall of his opening partner, who like Kohli entered the game on the back of a big hundred in the series-opener, Shikhar Dhawan continued to find the fence a couple of times while playing an upper cut to slice Roach's short ball outside off for a six over the third man.
However, Ashley Nurse had Dhawan trapped in front of the wicket after a West Indies review went in their favour.
At 40 for two in the ninth over, Rayudu joined his skipper and the two played fluently to keep the run rate healthy.
Save the one dropped catch by West Indies skipper Jason Holder who ran backwards from mid-off, Kohli looked untroubled throughout and seemed to be satisfied with the way his partner at the other end, Rayudu, was batting. Kohli was on 44 when he got the life.
The West Indies spinners, especially senior pro Devendra Bishoo, could not deliver on a pitch that offered turn and played slow.
That India eventually set the visitors a target of 322 was only due to Kohli's brilliance, as conditions and the quality of opposition bowling don't seem to matter to him anymore.
Earmarked for the critical number four slot through to the 2019 World Cup, Rayudu reposed his skipper's faith by compiling a neat innings that contained eight boundaries.
The crowd favourite, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, walked in to a rousing reception and was bowled by McCoy, his maiden wicket, for 20.
Rishabh Pant was slotted ahead of Dhoni but the plan was dropped at the insistence of Kohli, who relayed a message to the dressing room while he was toying with the opposition's bowlers.
When he eventually came, Pant also fell quickly, for a 13-ball 17, but Kohli remained strong and shifted gears to launch another onslaught, barely three days after a blazing 140-run knock.
Kieran Powell (18) and Chanderpaul Hemraj started West Indies' response by hitting a few quick boundaries, but Mohammed Shami had the former caught behind.
Kohli introduced Kuldeep Yadav and the chinaman, having missed the series opener, delivered straight away when he foxed Hemraj for a 24-ball 32. The spinner then bowled seasoned Marlon Samuels (13) to leave the visitors in a spot of bother at 78 for three in 12 overs.
A 143-run partnership ensued between Hetmyer and Shai Hope for the fourth wicket as the duo took calculated risks.
Taking off from where he left in the first match, Hetmyer launched into the Indian spinners and rattled them with a flurry of sixes. He was destructive in the region between long-off and deep midwicket and was most harsh on Yuzvendra Chahal, who leaked 18 runs in one of the middle overs.
Shai Hope was the perfect foil for the marauding Hetmyer, as the former kept rotating strikes while finding the fence on a fairly regular basis.
However, Chahal had the last laugh when Hetmyer top-edged an innocuous short ball for a skier to Kohli at short cover.
At that point, West Indies needed 101 runs in 18 overs as Rovman Powell joined Hope, and the equation was brought down to 63 in the last 10 with skipper Holder among the five batsmen remaining.ut they could only tie the game.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
