New Delhi: After two last-over thrilling encounters, India dominated the final ODI to win the game pretty one-sidedly. With this win, India registered a clean sweep in the 3-match ODI series. It was the captain Shikhar Dhawan along with Shubhman Gill who laid the foundation of this win.
The match was heavily affected by the rain. A two-and-a-half-hour rain delay already made it a 40 overs encounter, and as if it was not enough, another shower gave West Indies just 35 overs to bat, out of which they could utilise just 26 overs. Eventually, India won the game by 119 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method (DLS).
Dhawan and Shubhman lead the pack
Shikhar Dhawan and Shubhman Gill posted their second century stand in the series. Dhawan hit 7 fours and scored 58(74) before getting out to Hayden Walsh. He was not able to attack the Windies ballers as the pitch seemed slow. However, it was Gill and Iyer’s show then as they accelerated when it was needed. Just after the teams came back from the rain delay, both the batters hit 31 runs in the first two overs. They went on to contribute 86 runs before Shreyas Iyer, trying to hit an aerial shot, edged Akeal Hosein’s delivery and gave a catch to Keemo Paul.
Suryakumar Yadav’s inning did not last much when he got out on 8(6). India ended scoring 225/3 in 36 overs before the second shower arrived. Unfortunate for Gill, whose brilliant inning came to an end due to the rain as he just missed his maiden century. He ended up scoring 98*(98) when India had to leave the field.
Windies’ batting collapse
Mohammed Siraj gave India the dream start as he took two wickets in the second over when West Indies did not even add a run to their tally. Shai Hope and Brandom King tried to build up a partnership and posted a 47-run stand. It was Yuzvendra Chahal who spun the ball to get Hope stumped off a slower ball.
Brandon King seemed to score runs but Axar Patel’s arm ball in the 14th over bowled King for 42(37) having hit 5 fours and 1 six. But just after that, Nicholas Pooran hit Deepak Hooda for a six and a four and gave hope to the Windies. On the other side, his partner Keacy Carty was struggling before he edged the ball onto the stumps off Thakur’s delivery. Prasidh Krishna dismissed Pooran at a score of 42(32) when Dhawan celebrated the catch with his signature thigh-five.
The lower order could not do much in front of Chahal’s leg spin. He dismissed Paul, Walsh and Seals to seal the victory. Shubhman Gill was named the ‘Player of the Match’ and Player of the Series’. He scored a total of 205 runs in the 3 games with two fifty-plus scores.
