Shikhar Dhawan hit his second successive hundred as India crushed West Indies by eight wickets to seal spot in the semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval on Tuesday.
The dashing southpaw, who hit 114 against South Africa to help his side secure a 26-run victory in their tournament opener, slammed another unbeaten 102 as India chased down the 234-run target with more than 10 overs to spare.
Rohit Sharma and Dhawan once again delivered India a whirlwind start and smacked sparkling shots all over the ground. Dhawan was particularly ruthless as he propelled the ball past rope at regular intervals.
Thanks to pair’s flamboyant batting, India storm past 100 in 16th over before spinner Sunil Narine produced a sharp edge of Sharma to Johnson Charles, who took the charge behind stumps due to the two-match suspension of regular wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin. Initially he was ruled not out but the decision was overturned when hot-spot showed that ball his nicked the bottom of bat.
Virat Kohli, who was playing his 100th ODI, failed to do something exceptional and bowled out for 22 off Narine.
Dhawan continued to clobber runs in association with Dinesh Karthik (51) A mediocre cloudburst suspended the proceedings for a short while but it did not caused the loss of any overs.
Dhawan brought up his hundred in style, by hammering Dwayne Bravo a hefty blow over rope on third man. Karthik took India beyond target by lashing a boundary off Kieron Pollard.
Earlier, despite of the 78-run second-wicket partnership between Charles (60) and Darren Bravo (35), put to bat West Indies failed to sustain momentum and could manage to reach 233-9.
Ravindra Jadeja produced a stunning five-wicket haul, leaving West Indies in tatters of being bowled out below 200. However Darren Sammy’s late assault – 56 off 35 balls – helped them go past the mark. Sammy’s whirlwind vigil was featured with four monster sixes and five fours.
India will now face arch-rivals Pakistan in their last league game at Birmingham on June 15. West Indies will take on South Africa in a must-win game at Cardiff on June 14.