Gill was hit on the elbow in Friday’s nets, and he and Kohli made hundreds as India chased 296

On Friday, Shubman Gill had his right elbow iced and strapped in the Thiruvananthapuram nets after a length ball from Mohammed Siraj climbed and hit him. On Sunday he made 110 from 108 balls. Virat Kohli made 139 not out from 88. India chased 296 against West Indies with 50 balls to spare and won the first ODI by eight wickets.

The elbow looks fine. So does Kohli, who had not played an ODI since July and walked in at 74 for 1 in the 12th over.

Kohli’s 55th hundred, and 15,000 runs on the way

Rohit Sharma, also back in the ODI side, hit three sixes in his 32 from 35 balls before Alzarri Joseph had him caught by Jewel Andrew. After that, West Indies did not take another wicket for 22 overs.

Gill got to fifty off 49 balls and his hundred off 96. Kohli went faster. He reached 50 from 40 balls, and when he got to 59 he became only the second man, after Sachin Tendulkar, to score 15,000 ODI runs. His hundred came from his 74th ball, with a six over Gudakesh Motie’s head. It was his 55th in ODIs and his tenth against West Indies.

The two of them added 151 for the second wicket before Gill, on 110, was caught by Andrew off Roston Chase in the 34th over. Ruturaj Gaikwad played the support role from there. Kohli kept swinging, finished with ten fours and nine sixes, and India got to 300 in the 42nd over. Joseph’s nine overs cost 81.

Greaves made a hundred and West Indies still fell short

For 30 overs this was West Indies’ game. Justin Greaves and John Campbell opened with 135, Campbell made 62 from 60 balls, and Greaves reached his maiden ODI hundred from 104 balls. At 176 for 1 in the 31st over they were looking at something well past 300.

Then they lost four wickets for 22 runs, three of them to Kuldeep Yadav on his return to India’s ODI side. Prasidh Krishna had Keacy Carty caught by Gill, Kuldeep had Shai Hope caught by Jadeja, and a few balls after reaching his hundred Greaves missed a sweep at a Kuldeep googly and was lbw for 101, India winning the review. Jewel Andrew went next ball, caught by Rohit. West Indies were 198 for 5, and Kuldeep finished with 4 for 40 from his ten overs.

Amir Jangoo’s unbeaten 58 from 43 balls and 24 from Chase got them to 295 for 7. Prasidh added Chase’s wicket later. Nitish Kumar Reddy took one but went for 45 from five overs, and Gurnoor Brar and Ravindra Jadeja did not take a wicket between them.

What it means for Guwahati

India, who opted to bowl first, lead the three-match series 1-0. The second ODI is in Guwahati on Wednesday, 30 September. Naman Dhir made his ODI debut here, bowled five overs and caught Matthew Forde, but did not bat.

My read: the batting is not India’s problem. Kohli had not played an ODI since July and looked like he had never been away, and the captain batted through the middle of the chase two days after he was hit in the nets. The question is the bowling around Kuldeep. West Indies got 97 from the last 14 overs after the collapse, and in Guwahati the top order might not bail everyone out again.

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