India 308 for 7 (Dhawan 97, Gill 64, Iyer 54, Motie 2-54, Joseph 2-61) beat West Indies 305 for six (Mayers 75, King 54, Thakur 2-54, Siraj 2-56) by three runs
Having solely managed 83 for five within the final 15 overs of their innings, India’s bowlers walked out to defend their whole with a mindset of fixing their lengths, which is how Siraj prised Shai Hope out. Siraj drew him ahead with 4 pitched-up deliveries earlier than catching him off-guard with a bumper that had Hope prime-edging a catch to deep third.
Pooran joined King and added 51 off simply 56 balls to maintain them on the right track. The duo received themselves in by discovering the gaps earlier than Pooran hit a few sixes off Prasidh whereas King hit Axar Patel over lengthy-off.
Siraj then got here again to have Pooran mistime one to mid-on earlier than Chahal had Rovman Powell caught at slip to threaten a slide. But King, Hosein and Shepherd ensured the viewers left with fewer nails and better coronary heart charges.
In the morning, when overcast circumstances gave solution to vivid sunshine, the Indian openers feasted on some sick-disciplined new-ball bowling from the hosts. Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales gave away as many as six boundaries within the first six overs, despite the fact that they bowled a mixed 24 dot balls. At the top of the primary powerplay of ten overs, India had raced to 73 with out loss, with Dhawan and Gill hitting 11 fours and two sixes whereas additionally dealing with 38 dots.
Gill – chosen forward of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad – seemed notably fluent in his strokeplay, driving and flicking at will. He received off the mark with a pristinely-timed cowl drive off Seales earlier than executing an ideal again-foot punch within the subsequent over off Joseph. He cashed in on any width offered by the seamers and welcomed left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie with a nicely-timed six over mid-on, and received to his maiden ODI fifty off simply 36 balls.
Dhawan, who had returns of 31*, 9 and 1 within the current ODI sequence in opposition to England, was blissful to go away deliveries exterior off to get his eye in earlier than liberating his arms to gather boundaries and make up for the dots. Though he performed second fiddle to Gill, Dhawan ensured the great begin did not go to waste, citing his thirty sixth fifty within the format.
Just when it seemed like West Indies would battle to get a breakthrough, Gill threw away an opportunity to get to triple figures. He tucked a Joseph supply in the direction of midwicket and set off on a jog, solely to be run out by a direct hit from an alert Pooran at sq. leg.
The 5 overs after Gill’s wicket introduced simply 17 runs with Motie mixing up his tempo to go together with Joseph’s quick-ball assault from the opposite finish. But Dhawan broke the shackles by first slog sweeping Motie for a six over deep sq. leg after which hitting Pooran’s half-time offspin for a most over lengthy-on an over later. Iyer then tore into Pooran, hitting a 4 and a six off successive deliveries, earlier than Dhawan deposited Motie over midwicket once more.
However, an acrobatic catch by Shamarh Brooks at backward level ended Dhawan’s innings on 97 off the very subsequent ball. An over later, Iyer fell after his fifty – due to a full-stretch leap from Pooran at cowl – and the brakes started to be utilized on India’s innings.
But Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur managed to seek out the boundary in the direction of the top of the innings – 36 got here from the final three overs – to assist India to a complete that proved simply sufficient.
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
