Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan was pleased after the team registered a thrilling two-wicket win against West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Sunday. Dhawan said it was a great team performance as the visitors came up with a complete collective effort to take an impregnable lead of 2-0 in the series.
West Indies posted a par score of 311 runs on the board after Nicholas Pooran won the toss and decided to bat first. Shai Hope scored a fine knock of 115 runs in his 100th ODI appearance as he batted at the top of his game.
On the other hand, Dhawan struggled to get going and was dismissed early. Shubman Gill did the bulk of the scoring for the team in the first PowerPlay but India soon found themselves struggling at 79-3.
However, Shreyas Iyer scored 64 runs (his seventh fifty against West Indies) while Sanju Samson also scored 54 runs, which was his maiden ODI half-century.
Subsequently, Axar Patel added the finishing touches as the southpaw scored 64 runs off just 35 balls. Patel also scored his maiden fifty to help the team get over the line.
Shikhar Dhawan was delighted with the collective batting performance against the Windies and gave credit to the IPL for the mature performance of the youngsters.
Dhawan said in the post-match presentation, “It was a great team performance. The boys didn’t lose the self-belief, that is amazing. Iyer, Sanju, Axar everyone was amazing, Even Avesh came out in his debut game and scored those 11 important runs. Thanks to IPL, they perform on a huge stage. I felt that we bowled nicely. They got off to a good start. Hope and Pooran batted well.”
He added, “We thought if they could do it, we knew that we could do it. We started a little slow. Shubman batted well. The Iyer-Samson partnership made a huge difference. There was a run-out. But these things happen. Boys are learning. Thanks to the support staff as well. They have been doing a tremendous job. It was a great feeling when I scored a 100 in my 100th ODI game. I would want to congratulate Hope for doing the same.”
India and West Indies will take on each other in the third ODI on Wednesday at the same venue of Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
