India win with a laugh in Kohli’s record-breaking match

India won the record-breaking match by a laugh in Virat Kohli's match. Chasing 296 runs in the first match of the three-match ODI series against the West Indies, the hosts won by 8 wickets with 50 balls to spare.

India won the toss and invited the visiting West Indies to bat at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Batting first, the Caribbeans got off to a flying start. The opening pair, John Campbell and Justin Graves, put on a 135-run partnership off 116 balls.

John Campbell returned to the team's 135 runs in 19.2 overs. Before that, he played an innings of 62 runs in 60 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Justin Graves was the fourth batsman out for 198 runs for the team. Before that, he completed his century with the help of 12 boundaries in 108 balls.

Then, while the other batsmen were busy coming and going, Amir Jung kept the other end of the wicket in check and played until the last ball of the innings. He remained unbeaten on 58 runs off 43 balls, including 7 fours and a six. In the end, his batting spree helped the Windies amass 295 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.

Chasing the target, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got off to a flying start. Former captain Rohit Sharma returned to the dressing room with a partnership of 76 runs in just 12 overs. He returned to the dressing room with 32 runs off 35 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes.

Then captain Shubman Gill put on a 151-run partnership with Virat Kohli off 132 balls. He returned to the dressing room after scoring his 10th century in the 68th match of his career. His 110-run innings came off 108 balls and was studded with 13 fours and a six.  

After Shubman Gill was dismissed, Virat Kohli put on an incredible 75-run stand with Rituraj Gaekwad for the third wicket in just 46 balls, taking the team to victory with 50 balls to spare.

Kohli remained unbeaten on 139 runs off 88 balls today, hitting 10 fours and 9 sixes. By reaching 59 runs today, he became the second batsman to reach the milestone of 15,000 runs in ODI cricket. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar scored a record 18,426 runs in ODI cricket. And by scoring 110 runs, Kohli surpassed Sachin (6,976) to become the highest run scorer (7,006) in ODIs on home soil.