The West Indies comprehensively outplayed India to win the first ODI by 8 wickets.
It was the West Indies who won the toss in Chennai and chose to bowl first, enjoying early success when they picked up two wickets in the seventh over, KL Rahul caught by Shimron Hetmyer, and captain Virat Kohli bowled, both victims to Sheldon Cottrell. Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer rebuilt the innings with a stand of 55, but, when he had reached 36, Rohit fell to Alzarri Joseph, Kieron Pollard supplying the catch.
Shreyas Iyer and Risbabh Pant then shared a stand of 114 for the fourth wicket, until Iyer, who had made 70, including one six and 5 fours, was the next man to go, caught by Pollard, with Joseph again the bowler. Pant and Kedhar Jadhav then put on 16, but then Pant was out for 71, caught by Hetmyer off Pollard. He finished with one six and 7 fours to his name.
It was then the turn of Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja to combine, and the pair put on 59 for the sixth wicket, before both men fell in successive balls. First to go was Jadhav for 40, caught by Pollard off Keemo Paul, and then Jadeja was run out off the next ball. Shivan Dube made 9 before he was caught by Jason Holder off Paul, but Deepak Chahar helped his side close on 287 – 8 at the end of their 50 overs.
India enjoyed early success of their own when it came to their turn to bowl, with Chahar accounting for opener Sunil Ambris lbw. However, then Shai Hope and Hetmyer formed the partnership that took the match away from India, putting on 218 for the second wicket. Hetmyer was the star of the show, scoring 139 off 106 balls, including 7 sixes and 11 fours, whilst Hope was content to pay second fiddle. Hetmyer finally fell in the 39th over, caught by Iyer off the bowling of Mohammed Shami, but then Hope took responsibility for the run chase, aided by vice-captain Nicholas Pooran.
Together, the pair shared an unbroken stand of 62, which helped their side reach their target with more than two overs to spare, with Hope making three figures himself, finishing on 102 not out. He struck one six and 7 fours. At the other end, Pooran finished undefeated on 29, having struck 4 fours.
