India Crush West Indies by 8 Wickets as Kohli, Gill Hit Centuries in 1st ODI

India began the West Indies tour of India 2026 with a dominant 8-wicket win in the 1st ODI at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, chasing down 296 with 50 balls to spare.

Put in to bat after Shubman Gill won the toss, West Indies got off to a flying start. John Campbell (62) and Justin Greaves put on 135 for the first wicket, with Greaves going on to score a maiden ODI century, 101 off 108 balls. Kuldeep Yadav pulled things back for India, picking up a four-wicket haul (4/40) to peg West Indies back from a strong position. A brisk 58 not out off 43 balls from Amir Jangoo lifted the innings to 295 for 7 in the 50 overs, with Prasidh Krishna also chipping in with two wickets.

In reply, India never let the required rate get away from them. Rohit Sharma and Gill added 74 for the first wicket before Rohit fell to Alzarri Joseph for 32. That brought Virat Kohli to the crease, and he and Gill put together a 151-run stand that took the game away from West Indies. Gill made 110 off 108 balls, his 10th ODI hundred, before falling to Roston Chase. Kohli was unstoppable at the other end, finishing unbeaten on 139 off just 88 balls with 10 fours and 9 sixes, the most sixes he has ever hit in an ODI innings. In the process, he became only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to reach 15,000 ODI runs, doing so in 315 innings, 74 fewer than Tendulkar took. Ruturaj Gaikwad stayed unbeaten on 13 as India got home in 41.4 overs, finishing on 300 for 2.

It was a statement opening performance for India across both departments. Kuldeep's four-for set the platform, and the Gill-Kohli partnership did the rest with minimal fuss. West Indies will need a much sharper effort with the ball and in the field if they are to level things up in the remaining matches of the series.