Twitter is immensely impressed with Shimron Hetmyer's sensational hitting skills

The ODI series between India and Windies got underway today in Guwahati as the hosts won the toss and opted to field first. Virat Kohli hoped for the new ball to swing in the first hour but to everyone’s surprise, it did nothing and the belter of a track has been offering runs to the Caribbean side. However, much like their temperament, the visiting batsmen have blown away the opportunity to score big and only Shimron Hetmyer stood tall among the top six.

Kieran Powell slammed an impressive half-century opening the innings, but he failed to continue and was snaffled by the rookie Khaleel Ahmed. The arrival of Hetmyer though paced things as India hoped to strangle the Windies in the middle overs. But with Kuldeep Yadav being benched, they didn’t have that special factor in their attack. After having a look for a few deliveries, the flamboyant left-hander, Hetmyer, started opening his arms.

He has built a reputation of him being a hard-hitter in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and the youngster lived up to it. Many still doubt him as the Test cricketer but he is definitely a much better batsman in the shorter formats.

Shami at the receiving end

Shimron Hetmyer took full toll of the under-strength bowling attack and frankly the Indian bowlers didn’t have any answers. Ravindra Jadeja, who made a rousing comeback to ODI cricket in the Asia Cup, bowled darts to arrest the run-scoring to no avail. More than anyone, Mohammed Shami felt the heat of Hetmyer’s batting as he was taken apart for 17 runs in his sixth over.

It didn’t matter for the Guyana-born player that the middle overs and it was important to rotate the strike. He brought up his half-century in quick time and seemed even more dangerous in the other half of his innings. His style of clearing the front leg and smacking the ball out of the ground has certainly grabbed a lot of eyeballs and could be the top contender to earn an IPL contract for the next season.

Meanwhile, by playing a lofted extra cover drive for six, Shimron Hetmyer notched up his third ODI century. However, he was soon dismissed after reaching the milestone by Jadeja for 106. But he has to be really commended for batting superbly and has put his team in a position to score more than 300 runs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the superb knock:

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