India recorded yet another jaw-dropping win over West Indies in the second ODI between the two sides at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. Led by Axar Patel’s heroics, who remained unbeaten on 64 off 35 and spearheaded what looked like an improbable win at one point, India have now secured the three-match series win after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Axar Patel was far from the only performer with the bat for India as half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson also paved the way for the Men in Blue to build a formidable stand. Sanju Samson was run out at 54 while Iyer was dismissed on 63.
Shreyas Iyer, who got out to an LBW off Alzarri Joseph, was especially unhappy with the manner of his dismissal. “I was really happy with the score which I got today but really unhappy with the way I was dismissed. I thought I could have taken the team through easily but very unfortunate with the wicket. Hopefully, I score a century in the next game,” said Shreyas in a post-match press conference.
Despite how the result turned out, with India winning in the final over with two wickets to spare, they were put in an unfavourable position in the match. Following the quick dismissals of Shikhar Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav, the visitors were struggling at 79/3 at one stage.
However, the 99-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson proved to be absolutely crucial in the context of the match. Not only did it avoid adversity but also allowed India to be in a position from where they could launch a counter offensive which is exactly what Axar Patel did.
“We lost two back-to-back wickets for 60 and from there we had to rebuild. Sanju came in and showed a lot of intent. I was already batting and had faced around 20 balls. So, me and Sanju knew what we had to do. Sanju faced a few balls and then he took on to the spinners,” said Iyer.
“He hit them for two sixes and suddenly the momentum shifted towards us and from there, we built on the partnership,” he added.
Axar Patel smacked a six off Kyle Mayers’ final over to seal the deal for the Men in Blue. The third and final ODI, which is nothing more than a formality at this point, will be played on July 27.
