Windies fall to Gill masterclass in Guwahati run-fest
India complete second-highest run-chase in ODI history
India 406 for 2 (Gill 223*, Rohit 101; Joseph 1-52) beat West Indies 405 for 7 (Jangoo 114, Hope 104, Campbell 101; Kuldeep 2-65) by 8 wickets
On a day they produced three centurions and scored 405—their highest ODI total—the West Indies were outclassed by India, suffering an 8-wicket defeat which gives the hosts a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The Barsapara Stadium produced 811 runs and five hundreds on the night, but it was a monster unbeaten double from Indian captain Shubman Gill (223*), along with the century from partner Rohit Sharma, with whom he shared in a match-winning 255-run opening stand, that guided India to victory.
Outside of the three-over period between the second and sixth, where opening bowlers Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph conceded 13 runs in 23 balls, there was no hiccup in the Indian chase.
Shai Hope threw the ball to Vitel Lawes in the 18th over with the score 169 for no loss. The hosts took two overs to assess the young wrist-spinner before applying the same treatment.
Both opportunities Windies missed resulted in Rohit’s survival. A Keemo Paul bouncer flew off Rohit’s bat but fell just short of a diving Lawes at backward point with the score on 79 in the 10th. Then, in a more straightforward chance, Rohit was dropped by Keacy Carty off Lawes with the score on 204.
Gill went on to better John Campbell’s 65 balls by bringing up his ton in 62. Rohit’s milestone came at a pedestrian pace in comparison, getting there in 72 balls.
When Seales prised Rohit’s wicket in the 27th, there were still 150 runs to get, but there was a feeling the damage was all but done. Despite losing Virat Kohli for 29, the sentiments were true. Gill went on to score the fastest ODI double-century in 117 balls, sticking around to see India home at 406 for 2 in 43.3 overs.
The evening had begun with as much hope for the West Indies as Sunday’s first game. They had another rocket start, racing to 96 for the loss of Keacy Carty (9) in the powerplay.
Carty, who replaced game one’s injured centurion Justin Greaves at the top of the order, fell to a controversial Naman Dhir catch in the sixth over with 37 runs on the board. This did little to slow opening partner John Campbell down. If Campbell pounced upon the spinners in the first encounter, he ambushed India’s seamers in the second.
He took 22 runs from Prasidh Krishna in the seventh before bringing up a 31-ball fifty with a six off Gurnoor Brar in the eighth. Campbell, the first of Windies’ hundred-makers on the night, got to the milestone in 65 balls. He had Captain Shai Hope for company for the majority of his innings, with the two sharing in a 110-run (79 balls) partnership for the second wicket.
Hope opted for a more measured approach in his knock and was on 26 from 32 balls when Campbell (101) was dismissed by Brar in the 19th. Amir Jangoo walked to the crease and went about piercing the off-side relentlessly. The pair shared in a mammoth 182-run partnership for the third wicket. The 131-ball stand took the West Indies to 329 with 10 overs remaining.
The Caribbean side seemed set to score well in excess of 400. Hope brought up his 20th hundred in the format in 90 balls before being dismissed three deliveries later for 104.
Jangoo was next. He got to his second ODI ton with the delivery that followed. The next ball saw Sherfane Rutherford being sent back for a first-ball duck. Jangoo followed soon after as the West Indies lost 19 for three, slipping to 348 for five in the 43rd.
They managed only 12 runs from the final 12 deliveries of the innings, finishing on 405 for seven.