Highlights: India won the toss and opted to field against West Indies. The match was reduced to 34 overs due to a delayed start because of rain. The hosts lost Chris Gayle early with Kuldeep Yadav picking up his wicket. Evin Lewis was striking the ball well and was batting at 40 off 36 balls. Shai Hope was on the crease to provide support. But started raining again and match had to be stopped with West Indies on 54/1 after 13 overs.

Virat Kohli and his troops dominated West Indies in the shortest format where they outclassed the opposition in all the three departments. This ODI series will be India’s first 50-over assignment after the World Cup disappointment and the Men in Blue will fancy their chances against the West Indies side which will be strengthened by the inclusion of Chris Gayle in their squad.

Follow India vs West Indies highlights below -

12:45 hrs IST Called off After the rains haven’t stopped, the umpires have decided to call off the match. Only 13 overs of play was possible on a rainy day in Guyana. West Indies were able to get to fifty with Evin Lewis scoring the bulk of the runs. But play could not be possible as rains have played spoilsport.





12:12 hrs IST Still raining There was a brief period where rain had stopped and sunlight was seen. The covers also started coming off. But that was brief as it has started raining again and it doesn’t look good.





23:14 hrs IST Light Rain Another rain delay! This is not looking good at all as rain is back and the ground staff are out with the covers. West Indies are 54/1 with Evin Lewis going great runs with 40 off 36 balls.





23:03 hrs IST Gayle departs Kuldeep Yadav strikes with the first ball of his spell as Chris Gayle departs for 4. Gayle wanted to hit out of the park but he just ended up dragging it onto the stumps. WI 44/1





22:56 hrs IST Ground Conditions The Indian fielders and the two West Indies batsmen -- Chris Gayle (3 batting) and Evin Lewis (4 batting) -- came into the ground but the visiting captain Virat Kohli was seen having a discussion with the umpires. Play did not start immediately as the umpires reckoned the ground staff need more time to get the ground ready. Kohli and some other Indian players were seen shaking their legs for a while, moving to the tunes of the DJ at the venue. The players later walked off he field and the ground staff were seen spraying a lot of sawdust on the wet areas.





22:48 hrs IST Statement of Intent Evin Lewis finally shows some intent as he slammed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six over square leg. The shortened match will help India and the Windies will have to post a good total in the 34 overs. WI 18/0





22:42 hrs IST Match Resumes The match finally resumes after much delay and Mohammed Shami continued with his over. Cautious batting by Chris Gayle and after 6 overs, West Indies are 9/0





22:29 hrs IST More Delay The outfield conditions are still not up to the mark and looks like more overs will be lost.





21:53 hrs IST Match to resume The match is about to begin once again and now, it is reduced to 40 overs. The conditions are much better with the sun shining but there is some issue with the outfield.





21:42 hrs IST Weather Update The rain has stopped, the sun is out and the ground staff is working hard to resume the match. The umpires are having a chat but it seems we might lose a couple of overs.





21:25 hrs IST Rain Delay It is raining once again in Guyana and the groundstaff are out to cover the pitch. This is really unfortunate and let’s see when we can have cricket next in this match.





21:19 hrs IST Lifeline Evin Lewis was hit on the pads off Mohammed Shami in the last over and the DRS showed that the ball was actually going to hit the stumps. But the visitors did not go for a review and the opener survives for now. WI 7/0





21:09 hrs IST Gayle’s Feat Most ODIs for West Indies: 296 CHRIS GAYLE 295 Brian Lara 268 S Chanderpaul 238 Desmond Haynes 227 Carl Hooper 224 Richie Richardson





21:02 hrs IST Game Time The match is underway and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be bowling the first over of the match. For West Indies, Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis are the openers. Can Gayle break Brian Lara’s record? Let’s wait and watch.





20:52 hrs IST WI XI West Indies (Playing XI): Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shai Hope(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Kemar Roach





20:41 hrs IST India XI India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, K Khaleel Ahmed





20:34 hrs IST IND opt to field India have won the toss and they have decided to field. The match is reduced to 43 overs apiece due to the rain.





20:13 hrs IST New update BCCI has posted a new update: A contest between the cloud ☁️ and ☀️ at the moment here in Guyana. We are still waiting for the skies to clear #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/4EsQ1PvI1F — BCCI (@BCCI) August 8, 2019





20:05 hrs IST Sun is out The BCCI has tweeted: “Looks all clear with the sun beating hard at the moment. We will have an update soon.” Oh, they have deleted the tweet. But reports from Cricinfo and Cricbuzz stays the same.





19:45 hrs IST Rain restarts According to Cricbuzz, drizzle has started again in Guyana. The covers are on again. If the rain does not stop, it will lead to reduction in overs.





19:25 hrs IST Umpires on the ground According to Cricinfo, the covers have been removed, the music is on and the umpires are on the ground to take stock of the situation.





19:02 hrs IST More update “The grounds staff are out. A lot of water has collected on the covers, but the rain is gone, the sun is almost out, The staff are getting to work, it looks promising,” reports ESPNCricinfo.





18:54 hrs IST Weather update “Looks like it might be clearing. The sky is brighter, I even see the sun trying to peak out from behind the clouds. The machine that drains water from the outfield? The grounds staff have that ready to come out,” reports ESPNCricinfo.





18:30 hrs IST Toss delayed As expected, the toss has been delayed and we will have a late start in the 1st ODI. The fans will hope that the rain stops soon, and there could still be some cricket action in the day.





18:20 hrs IST Rain update The rains seems to have picked up in the last few minutes. The footage shown by the official broadcasters paint a grim picture. Rain is coming down hard, the conditions are dark and pitch is covered. The toss is set to get delayed as it is currently scheduled for 6:30 PM IST.





18:10 hrs IST Weather update Things doesn’t look good at the moment as the pitch is covered currently due to rain. Dark clouds seems to have engulfed the stadium as it is very dark in Guyana right now. We don’t know if the toss will take place at the designated time but we will update you when we get an official word from the venue.





18:00 hrs IST Player battle: Nicolas Pooran vs Yuzvendra Chahal Nicolas Pooran was one of the bright spots in the T20I series for West Indies where they were defeated 3-0 in India and the youngster will be looking to continue his run of form in the ODI series. However, against a quality spinner like Chahal, the task will not be easy. Chahal has the knack of taking wickets at crucial points of the match and the wicket of Pooran can turn the match on its head.





17:41 hrs IST Player battle: Shai Hope vs Mohammed Shami Mohammed Shami was the most successful bowler for India in the ICC World Cup 2019 and he will be returning to action for the first time since the tournament. Against Shai Hope, Shami enjoys a brilliant record and he will once again be trying to dismiss the in-form batsman as fast as possible. Shami has dismissed him thrice till now in ODIs.





17:29 hrs IST Player battle: Virat Kohli vs Sheldon Cottrell Sheldon Cottrell bowled brilliantly during the recently concluded T20I series and he was able to dismiss Virat Kohli twice in three matches. However, the India skipper is not someone who will back out of a challenge and he will certainly be looking to better his record against the left-arm pacer. Currently, he has faced just 10 balls from Cottrell in ODIs and the India skipper has scored 13 runs with an average of 130.





17:11 hrs IST Player battle: Chris Gayle vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar Chris Gayle has not been in prime form off late but it is always dangerous to discount a batsman of his calibre. However, when it comes to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, his record against the India pacer has been way less than impressive. Gayle has scored just 18 runs off 26 balls against Bhuvi and the fast bowler has dismissed him twice.





16:59 hrs IST Player battle: Rohit Sharma vs Oshane Thomas Rohit Sharma was the standout performer for India in the ICC World Cup 2019 with four centuries and he will be looking to continue his brilliant run of form in the ODI series against West Indies. The opener will be up against the young pacer Oshane Thomas who has troubled him earlier during the home season but statistically, Rohit holds the key. The right-hander has scored 45 off 27 balls against Thomas with six fours and two sixes.





16:42 hrs IST Kohli on the cusp of milestones as well The India skipper is just 19 runs away from becoming the batsman with the most ODI runs against West Indies. Kohli (1912 runs) is in the second position with Pakistan legend Javed Miandad leading the charts with 1930 runs. Kohli will also be looking to break Ramnaresh Sarwan’s record for the most number of runs scored by a batsman in India-West Indies ODIs in West Indies. Sarwan has scored 700 runs from 17 matches while Kohli currently has 556 runs from 12 encounters.





16:28 hrs IST Gayle on verge of breaking Lara’s records Gayle has played 295 ODIs so far and if he takes to the field against India, he will go past Lara’s record of most matches played for Windies in this particular format. Also, Gayle needs just 11 runs to become the highest run-getter for Windies in ODIs. Currently, Lara tops the charts with 10348 runs in this format.





16:13 hrs IST ‘Great to have Gayle in squad’ Jason Holder: Chris Gayle has always done well over the years. It is great to have him in the squad. He always brings a lot to the team. His presence is always felt when he steps in any cricket field. We are happy to have him in the dressing room.





16:00 hrs IST The return of Chris Gayle Windies will be bolstered by the presence of Chris Gayle, who will be retiring from international cricket post the culmination of the three-match rubber. Gayle during the World Cup had announced that the home series against India will be his last and thus Jason Holder will hope that the 39-year-old bids farewell to international cricket in grand style.





15:43 hrs IST Shami crucial for India’s pace attack In the fast bowling department, Kohli might give rest to Bhuvneshwar Kumar who played all the three T20Is and can bring Mohammad Shami to bowl alongside Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed. If will be interesting to see which trio comes out to bowl in Guyana today.





15:28 hrs IST Team India’s middle-order options A contest between Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer is likely to be seen for the remaining middle-order slot. Iyer was not able to find a place in the three T20Is and it is highly possible that the team management may go ahead with him in the ODIs. Another contest can be seen between Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav for a spot of an all-rounder and a leg-spinner.





15:13 hrs IST India’s top class top-order With Shikhar Dhawan back in the side, he will have the responsibility to give India a solid start alongside Rohit Sharma. K.L. Rahul, who opened the innings in World Cup alongside Rohit, is likely to go back to his number four slot with skipper Virat Kohli coming ahead of him.



