Cricket World Cup 2019: India flex their muscle in big win over West Indies
This is how it played out in Manchester
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India moved to the brink of sealing their place in the World Cup semi-finals by ending the West Indies' lingering hopes of reaching the knockout stages at Old Trafford.
Virat Kohli's fourth successive half-century underpinned a total of 268 for seven, with Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni injecting some late impetus as 81 runs were taken from the final nine overs.
That proved to be more than enough on a used surface offering a hint of movement and appreciable turn as they claimed a 125-run win, with the Windies succumbing to 143 all out after 34.2 overs under glorious blue skies.
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32.0 West Indies 129-9 Kemar Roach 1 Oshane Thomas 5
Thomas, having been reprieved, goes after Chahal, smashing one for four on the leg side and then hitting another towards Rahul at square leg. It should be caught, but he lets it slip out of his hands.
33.0 West Indies 135-9 Kemar Roach 5 Oshane Thomas 6
The last wicket is proving elusive for India. Roach and Thomas, who are far from the worst tailenders at the tournament, seem to be playing with freedom here. The former picks out the boundary this time, whacking Kuldeep over mid-off for four.
34.0 West Indies 143-9 Kemar Roach 14 Oshane Thomas 6
More frustration for Chahal and India. His first delivery is swept away powerfully for another four. And the final ball of the over is edged over slip and trickles away to the boundary. A resolute partnership is forming between Roach and Thomas.
34.2 West Indies 143-9
India review!
Shami fires a short ball at Thomas and Kohli catches it at slip. The umpire is unmoved, clearly uncertain as to whether there's any bat involved. India choose to review it.
West Indies 143 all out. India win by 125 runs
The review shows that the ball struck Thomas on the glove, and that's game over! A late flourish from the tail makes it slightly more respectable for the West Indies, but it won't take away from their disappointment. They're now out of the World Cup, with no chance of finishing in the top four.
India, meanwhile, can look forward to the semi-finals. Their score of 268 proved more than enough in the end, and their bowling attack is amongst the most lethal in the tournament so far. Next up for Kohli and his team: England on Sunday.
Virat Kohli is named man of the match after yet another score in excess of 50. There may be some debate, though, as to whether Shami should've been given the award for his four wickets.
India won't care about that. They've climbed above England in both the World Cup standings and the ODI world rankings. No one can deny that they're strong contenders for the title.
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