After they won the ODI series against England, the Indian team also came up with an enthralling performance to win the ODI series against West Indies. Axar Patel playing second fiddle to Yuzvendra Chahal in bowling, Hardik Pandya among all-rounders and many others as a finisher, finally showed his quality taking Men in Blue to a sensational win.
Needing six runs in three balls, the southpaw hit a massive six over the bowler’s head to clinch the match as well as the series for India. Winning a game that was tip-toeing in either team’s favour throughout the match, brought out a great sense of excitement and relief to the Indian dressing room as well as millions of fans watching the game.
A video posted by the Indian Cricket Board’s Twitter handle has captured the moment when Patel hit the winning six and the Indian dressing room leaping out in joy.
Reactions from the dugout and change room as @akshar2026 sealed the ODI series in style ??#TeamIndia #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/ZB8B6CMEbP
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2022
A great run chase
Talking of the game, it was a great showcase of the uncertainty of ODI cricket. Similar to the first match, the second only went right down to the wire having remained in both teams’ reach throughout the match.
West Indies chose to bat first after winning the toss and made a huge total of 311 runs in 50 overs. Shai Hope was immense with the bat nullifying the Indian bowling challenge to bring out his century (115) with eight boundaries and three sixes.
He was supported by the West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran who played an assured inning of 74 off of 77 deliveries. Indian bowling lacked the edge and guile of the England series and could only take six wickets. Shardul Thakur as is always the case came up with a three-wicket haul despite going for 54 in seven overs.
Coming onto chase what seemed a big total, the Indian openers played cautiously for the first ten overs making just 48 runs in them. Shikhar Dhawan however departed before increasing the pace and Shreyas Iyer came in to hold the fort. Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) played half-century knocks but could not see the game through.
It was the all-rounder Axar Patel who came up with a match-winning 64 off just 35 balls to take the team across the finish line. The left-arm all-rounder hit three fours and five sixes in what was a statement to the selectors ahead of the 20-20 World Cup.
