India captain Shikhar Dhawan credited the Indian Premier League (IPL) for fearless cricket from his teammates after his team pulled off another thriller in the second ODI against West Indies to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Looking to make comeback in the series, West Indies gave India a target of 312 at the Queen’s Park Oval, and while Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) struck half-centuries, India were still left with 100 runs required from the last 60 balls with five wickets in hand.
Deepak Hooda fell in 45th over with 48 needing from the last five overs, but Axar Patel’s career-best 64 not out off 35 balls swung the result in India’s favour. Axar slammed five sixes and three fours in his match-winning knock as India won by two wickets and two balls to spare.
Stand-in skipper Dhawan praised the players’ self-belief after the series win and credited the IPL for the brave cricket played by the youngsters.
“It was a great team performance. Boys didn’t lose self-belief, that is amazing. Iyer, Sanju, Axar everyone was amazing, Even Avesh (Khan) came out in his debut game and scored those 11 important runs. Thanks to IPL, they perform on a huge stage,” Dhawan said after the match.
Shai Hope scored 115 and Nicholas Pooran struck 74 as West Indies capitalised on the opportunity to bat first. Dhawan said India were never under the pressure of the big target and had the confidence that they can chase it down. He also praised Iyer and Samson for their crucial 99-run partnership.
“I felt that we bowled nicely. They got off to a good start. Hope and Pooran batted well. We thought if they could do it, we knew that we could do it,” he said.
“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.”
West Indies captain Pooran praised Axar for his match-winning knock and rued the fact that his team was not able to level the series despite setting a target in excess of 300.
“Last couple of overs we didn’t hold our nerves. Last 6 overs, we lost the game. We felt a spinner was easier to hit. We just needed one wicket to seal the game but Axar played really well,” Pooran said.
“His (Hope’s) 100th ODI, he was exceptional to get a hundred. We did an exceptional job with the batting group. We tried to compete really hard. We want to win really bad.”
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