Chasing, Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) struck fine half-centuries, but it was Axar Patel’s unbeaten 35-ball 64 that ultimately made the difference as India scampered home with two balls to spare.
Axar Patel slammed an astonishing half-century to help India take an unassailable 2-0 lead over West Indies in three-match series. The Men in Blue beat Windies by 2 wickets in another nail-biting finisher at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Axar remained unbeaten on 64 to get the job done for India on his own when other batters failed to close the game. Patel smashed his maiden ODI half-century in 27 balls and took the game away from West Indies in the slog overs.
The hosts were in a dominant position for the majority of game but Patel, who came out to bat at number 7, just blew them away with his ferocious knock. India needed 8 runs off the last over and the southpaw connected a six on the fourth ball to seal the game for India with two balls to spare.
Patel’s 35-ball knock was laced with five sixes and three fours as he displayed his batting credentials under a pressure situation.
Apart from Patel, Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) also played valuable knocks for India but they got out at crucial stages which pull West Indies back in the game. However, the 28-year-old just stole the show which helped India to clinch another ODI series in West Indies.
India started the chase on a strong note with a 48-run stand between Shubman Gill and skipper Shikhar Dhawan. The rain stopped the play for a few minutes which broke the momentum as Dhawan was dismissed on 13 after the break. Gill once again looked fluent during his stay in the middle. He scored 43 runs but got out in a tragic fashion. He tried to play the ramp shot against Kyle Mayers but the ball hit the toe end of the bat and went back to the bowlers who took an easy catch. The 22-year-old was dismissed on 43.
Suryakumar Yadav also failed to score big and was dismissed on 9. Shreyas and Samson shared a crucial 99-run stand to revive India’s chase when things were not going well for them. Deepak Hooda also scored 33 runs as he shared a 51-run stand with Axar. Debutant Avesh Khan also made a valuable contribution of 11 runs at a crucial stage.
Meanwhile, Shai Hope’s century on his 100th ODI game went in vain as the game slipped from the Windies’ hands in the last 10 overs.
Earlier, Hope showed his class with a magnificent century while skipper Nicholas Pooran went on a six-hitting spree as the West Indies produced a solid batting display to post 311 for six.
Hope constructed his 115-run innings well, focusing on building partnership and exploded in the end. His 135-ball knock comprised eight fours and three maximums. While Pooran scored 74 off 77 balls with the help of six maximums and one four.
Patel (1/40) and Hooda (1/42) were the best bowlers on display, while Yuzvendra Chahal (1/69) too scalped one but was expensive.
Mohammed Siraj (0/47) was decent but Avesh had a forgettable ODI debut, while Shardul Thakur (3/54) made amends in the back end with three wickets after conceding 13 in the first over.
Brief scores:
West Indies 311-6 (S. Hope 115, N. Pooran 74, K. Mayers 39; Shardul Thakur 3-54) v India 312-8 in 49.4 overs (A. Patel 64 n.o., S. Iyer 63, S. Samson 54; A. Joseph 2-46, K. Mayers 2-48)
