After being selected to bat in the first ODI, West Indies were unable to get off to a flying start and were bowled out for 176 in Ahmedabad. The visitors were hit by YuzvendraChahal's four wickets and WashintonSundar's three as they lost their way after a cautious start.
As India became the first team to play 1000 ODIs, Rohit Sharma had a near-perfect start as a regular skipper of the ODI side. Given that the dew element would come into play as the match progressed, the coin fell in Rohit's favour, and the opener had little hesitation in bowling first.
Shai Hope smashed two consecutive fours through cover in the third over, but Mohammed Siraj nipped back in with the following delivery. The inside edge smacked into the stumps, giving India an early lead. Darren Bravo (31 off 52 balls) and Brandon King added 31 off 52 balls for the second wicket before Washington forced the visitors to rebuild once more. He had King chip a catch to midwicket and then had Bravo lbw, leaving the West Indies in difficulty at 45 for 3.
Between Shamarh Brooks and Nicholas Pooran, a modest stand of 26 flourished, but Chahal's blows put a stop to those skirmishes. Pooran's first first was given out lbw after a review after the left-hander missed a sweep. West Indies were reduced to 71 for 5 when Kieron Pollard got tricked into playing an aggressive drive first ball, which was bowled by Chahal's googly. Chahal now has 100 ODI wickets. Brooks was left in the dust as Chahal led the charge with figures of 2-8-6-3.
Although Akeal Hosein had a duck, Jason Holder and Fabian Allen supplied much-needed resilience to push the score above 150. Holder appeared to be fluid and confident in his approach against the spinners. He faced Chahal and hit the leg-spinner for three sixes before reaching his half-century. Prasidh Krishan dropped him on 23 after the ball got through the pacer's hand at the square leg boundary for a six. Before Washington stopped Allen's innings on 29, the tandem had made 78 out of 91 pitches, with Holder adding 47 out of 48.
Holder was caught behind trying to push at a back of length delivery from Prasidh, thereby ending the visitors' chances of reaching the 200-run mark.