Axar Patel fifty helped India chase down 312 in what turned out to be another nail bitter. If the first ODI was about India’s top order’s brilliance, today was a complete team effort by the Indian team. India has always been looked up as a batting-heavy side but going into the World Cup preparations, they need to think about their bowling reserves too.
West Indies top 3 laid a solid foundation
Mayers and Hope played some brilliant shots early on in the innings and laid a solid foundation in posting up a big total. Mayers was the aggressor while Hope ably supported him. Mayers was eventually out for 39 but the duo had put up 65 for the first wicket in just 9 overs with the run rate crossing 7.
As Mayers departed, Brooks joined in and both Hope and Brooks carried the momentum forward as the pair added 62 runs for the second wicket.
Brooks was dismissed for 35. Soon to follow him was Brandon King who has promoted up the order after a good outing in the first ODI. He was outfoxed by the witty leggie Chahal for a duck.
Accelerating in the middle overs
Pooran and Hope played out the spinners, attacked them, and gave no chance to the Indian Team bowlers in the middle overs. The bowlers lacked commitment and were rusty with their bowling approaches.
Shikhar Dhawan hasn’t been able to properly rotate his bowlers. Together the duo scored 117 runs in 20 odd overs before the Windies skipper was bowled by Shardul Thakur in the 44th over
Hope finally scores a 100
Playing his 100th ODI, Hope scored his 13th ODI ton off 125 balls. He brought up his hundred with a glorious hit out of the park. West Indies tried to up the ante in the final overs but the Indian Team bowling at the death was up to the task and restricted Windies to 311-6.
At one point 340 looked quite likely to be on the cards but nonetheless, the West Indies were able to score the target runs of the first ODI which they lost by 3 runs.
Gill provides a good start to the innings
While Shubman Gill continued to impress with his flaunting batting display in the powerplay overs, the Indian Team captain, fresh from a 97 in the first ODI was not able to replicate his form as he was dismissed cheaply for 13.
Gill gave up another promising start as he was dismissed for 43 playing a miscued scoop to a ball that sticked to the pitch, ending up being caught and bowled by Mayers. Suryakumar Yadav too followed Gill, continuing his poor run this series.
Iyer, Samson steady the ship
With the openers and Suryakumar Yadav back in the hut, the onus was on the duo to rebuild the innings. For Samson, this match was extremely crucial. Iyer fresh from a fifty-last match continued from where he left.
While Samson was aggressive at the start of his innings, Iyer was quite watchful with the added responsibility of preserving his wicket. Both batters played out spin very sensibly and took on any opportunity provided to them by the Windies bowlers.
Iyer brought up another consecutive half-century while Samson too brought up his maiden ODI half-century. Both batters were dismissed after their fifties to some great tight bowling by West Indies thus exposing the middle and lower middle order to the Windies bowlers.
Axar at his brutal best
With 106 runs required off the last 12 overs and half the side back in the hut, the onus was on Hooda and Axar to drive India home. Axar with his aggressive gameplay started the onslaught on the West Indies bowlers punishing them for 4s and 6s all around the ground.
Though Hooda supported him initially he too was out on 33 as India needed 56 off the 6 overs. Thakur too got out to a poor start in the 47th over and things could’ve been different as Avesh Khan’s brain fade (nearly ran himself out) could have let Windies take control over the game.
Axar Patel continued punishing the bowlers as he brought up his maiden ODI fifty in just 27 balls. With 8 needed of the final over, Axar hit a six to take India home with 2 wickets in hand.
Postives for both teams
West Indies found batting difficult in their last assignment against the Bangladeshi team. This series has been completely different. Not only they are successful in playing out the full quota of 50 overs but they have also been scoring more than 300 in both the encounters. Meanwhile, India who were criticized for scoring 83 runs in their last 15 overs in the first ODI scored 100 runs in the last 10 overs today.
Brief Scores
West Indies : Hope(115), Pooran(74), Thakur(3-54)
India : Axar(64), Iyer(63), Samson(54), Joseph(2-46)
Man of the Match: Axar Patel
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