Source: Trinidad Express
WEST INDIES skipper Nicholas Pooran wanted to see some fight from his players and that is exactly what he got as the men in maroon took the first ODI against India down to the wire before eventually falling short by the narrowest of margins.
The crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval, yesterday, were also very appreciative of the home team’s effort, cheering on the players even as India clinched a three-run victory.
“It definitely feels like a win,” Pooran said after the game. “It is bitter-sweet. We spoke about batting 50 overs and we did that today and made 300-plus. We are trying to figure it out in ODI cricket and coming up against one of the top teams in the world, today we did justice to our talents,” he added.
The hosts, led by half-centuries from Kyle Mayers and Brandon King as well as cameos from Shamarh Brooks, Pooran, Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd, batted out their allotted 50 overs, reaching 305 for six, having earlier clawed back India to 308 for seven after the visitors had gotten off to a flyer.
Mayers led the way with an aggressive 75 off 68 balls, counting ten fours and a six. He and Brooks (46 off 61 balls) laid the platform with a 117-run, second-wicket stand, following the early dismissal of Shai Hope. When the pair got separated in the 24th over, the innings could have unraveled but the West Indies batters dug deep to keep alive the chase.
Having taken the score to 133 for one, Brooks pulled a wide ball from Shardul Thakur straight to Shreyas Iyer on the deep square leg boundary while Mayers also went after a wide one and got an edge to Sanju Samson behind the stumps.
Pooran then pulled Prasidh Krishna for consecutive sixes to release some of the pressure that was building and King followed his skipper’s example, smacking left-arm spinner Axar Patel for a six in the next over as the hosts raced to 182 for three after 33 overs.
But just as the partnership was beginning to blossom, Pooran departed for 25 and Rovman Powell failed to make an impact, going for just six.
But it was still game-on with Hosein again showing his worth with the bat as he and King dragged the score to 219 for five after 40 overs with 90 needed in the last ten overs.
King slog-sweeped leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for six to keep the innings going but he eventually fell, caught at deep extra cover, with five overs left and 45 runs still to get. Hosein, who made 32 not out off 32 balls, and Shepherd, who finished unbeaten on 39 (25 balls), including two sixes and three fours, brought the hosts just to within touch, with 27 needed off the final two overs.
Shepherd struck Krishna for a straight six and a four to take the game into the final over, on a knife’s edge, with the hosts still 15 away from pulling off what would have been their third-highest successful run chase.
The Windies got five off the first three balls from Mohammed Siraj and then scampered a couple off the fourth. A wide then left them needing seven from two balls. Another double then left them one hit away from tying or victory, with one ball left. But Siraj held his nerve with a game-clinching yorker as India grimly hung on for the win.
Earlier, it was the Indian skipper Shikhar Dhawan that set the tone, hitting 97 off 99 balls in a 119-run opening stand with Shubman Gill, who struck 64 from 53 balls.
But some brilliant fielding led to the first breakthrough with Pooran running out Gill before taking a one-handed catch to dismiss Iyer for 54. Dhawan was also left disappointed, slashing at a wide ball, with Brooks taking another brilliant catch at backward point as the India skipper fell three runs short of a ton.
That got the Caribbean men fired up as they closed off the innings strongly, conceding just 60 runs in the final ten overs to give themselves a fighting chance. In the end, the target proved to be just out of reach.
“We ticked three boxes today — fielding, batting 50 overs, and executing at the death, so well done to the guys. It is difficult to lose but we will take this one,” Pooran concluded.
The West Indies will be looking for a similar effort tomorrow in the second ODI as they look to keep the three-match series alive.