The middle overs in the West Indies' opening ODI against India in Thiruvananthapuram significantly influenced the course of the three-match series. The West Indies batted well and started and finished well. John Campbell and Justin Greaves flew off the blocks, with the latter scoring a brisk century, while Amir Jangoo, fresh off a CPL final fifty, maximised the death overs with an unbeaten 58 off 43. However, the enthused West Indies ran into some Kuldeep Yadav magic in the middle and were left confused. A potential 330-plus total ended at 295/7 - which too was only possible due to Jangoo's urgency in the death overs. As was to be expected, West Indies' total was insufficient due to Shubman Gill's 10th ODI ton, which extended his incredible streak at home since 2024, and Virat Kohli's 55th century in the format, which came off just 74 balls, reaching 15000 ODI runs. But first about Kuldeep, who was at his skillful best. When West Indies were 107/0 in 15 overs when he started, he clipped the openers' wings in his third over after the drinks break. Kuldeep got Campbell to top-edge a tossed up ball to Prasidh Krishna at short fine, breaking a 135-run stand. The wicket brought Kaecy Carty to the middle, who just couldn't get going. As West Indies' scoring rate fell below six an over, he eventually fell in the 31st over for a laborious 13 off 31. Kuldeep returned after a successful first spell to up the ante further, sending back Shai Hope first with a flighted ball that the skipper miscued and then bowling a double-wicket maiden over. Kuldeep bowled a peach to Jewel Andrew, who nicked Rohit Sharma at first slip before Kuldeep saw the back of centurion Greaves by trapping his leg before. This rambling essay was picked up by Jangoo, who turbo-boosted it to a fight-ready conclusion. Jangoo hit 50 of West Indies' 82 runs in the final 10 overs, hitting 27 balls. Jangoo went after Prasidh and Gurnoor at the death to push West Indies as close to 300 as was possible. Their bowlers however lacked the bite to make that total seem competitive. In the first Powerplay, the new-ball bowlers took a beating, but a dropped catch gave Gill an early break. India led in chase after Rohit and Gill scored 70 runs in the Powerplay, but Alzarri Joseph caught the latter at deep square leg for a 35-ball 32. Kohli swiveled to pull a 144 kmph Joseph delivery for a six as he approached the crease with the goal of picking up speed. Kohli and Gill cantered their way to fifty runs each as West Indies struggled to challenge the batters. However, Kohli crossed 15,000 ODI runs in the 29th over, which was the evening's bigger milestone. While West Indies tried to use the ball to their advantage, they were unable to match the speed of the Kohli-Gill juggernaut. Gill played with incredible control, playing just one false shot at the time of reaching his 10th ODI hundred - off 96 balls. Roston Chase still managed to dismiss Gill against the run of play but Kohli marched on, scoring a staggering 30th century in an ODI chase. Kohli scored an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls, the most he had ever scored in an ODI innings, with 10 fours and 9 sixes. With the last two of his nine sixes, he completed India's chase in the 42nd over.