Axar Patel proved to be the hero for Team India in the second ODI and with a second straight win, the visitors have won the ODI series already. Scoring his maiden One Day half-century, Axar remained not out on 64 off 35 deliveries and his innings included three fours and five sixes – nobody in the history of Indian ODI cricket has scored more sixes batting number 7 or below in a successful run-chase. This helped India chase down a formidable target of 312 with two balls to spare in a high-scoring thriller at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
The West Indies batting effort was led by the excellent Shai Hope. In his 100th appearance in this format of the game, Hope smashed a wonderful 115. Skipper Nicholas Pooran also chipped in with a strong knock of 74. Both Hope and Pooran were dismissed by Shardul Thakur who also got the better of Rovman Powell.
Although Shubman Gill played plenty of beautiful shots and showed fluency in the first 10 overs, India quickly got into dire straits with the scoreboard reading 79/3 with Shikhar Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav holing out early. Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson added a vital 99-run partnership in the middle with both the cricketers scoring important half-centuries. However, Shreyas fell to an LBW off Alzarri Joseph while Samson got unfortunately run out.
Following the dismissals of Sanju and Shreyas, the onus to take India past the finishing line fell on the shoulders of Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel. The Men in Blue required 100 off the last 10 and despite the asking rate touching 10 almost every single over, Axar played big shots with ease to keep India in the hunt.
The 28-year-old went about his job by smashing sixes and he took on the likes of Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd with plenty of disdain. However, their partnership ended when Hooda was dismissed for 33.
Axar then spearheaded the run-chase almost single-handedly despite the likes of Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj occupying the other end of the crease. With eight runs needed off the final over bowled by Kyle Mayers, Axar Patel secured victory, and with it the series, with a flamboyant six!
“I think this is a special one. It came at a crucial time and also helped the team to win the series. We have done the same in the IPL. We just needed to remain calm and keep the intensity up. I was playing an ODI after close to five years. I would want to continue performing like this for my team,” Axar said after the match.
