West Indies beat India by 6 wickets to level series 1-1 (AP Photo)
IND vs WI, 2nd ODI: West Indies defeated India by 6 wickets in the second ODI in Barbados to level the 3-match series 1-1. Both teams will now return to Trinidad to play the final game of the series on Tuesday.
India’s decision to bench Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the second ODI in Barbados badly backfired as West Indies defeated the visitors by six wickets on Saturday at the Kensington Oval to level the 3-match series 1-1. In pursuit of 182 runs, Shai Hope played the captain’s knock, 63* off 80 balls, and was remarkably backed by Keacy Carty (48 not out off 65 deliveries) in an unbeaten 91-run partnership for the fifth wicket as the hosts chased down the 182-run target with 80 balls to spare. The victory also ended India’s winning streak against the West Indies in the 50-over format.
After bowling out India for 181, Kyle Mayers and Brandon King looked to give a flying start to the hosts. They kept on dealing in boundaries until Shardul Thakur unliked their partnership in the 9th over. The Indian all-rounder got Mayers caught at short fine leg and then trapped King in the front, dismissing both openers in the same over.
Shardul struck again to dismiss Alick Athanaze (6) in the 13th over while Kuldeep Yadav floored Shimron Hetmyer with a googly in the 17th, reducing Windies to 91 for 4 and putting India in the driver’s seat.
After Shardul’s lively spell, Windies skipper Shai Hope took things under his control and showcased the utmost grit against the Indian attack. He notched up his half-century and then stuck around in the middle with partner Keacy Carty to forge an unbeaten 91-run stand for the 5th wicket to turn the tables. They finished the chase in 36.4 overs and break a chain of nine successive bilateral defeats since December 2019.
Earlier, India’s world cup aspirants in Sanju Samson and Axar Patel could never flourish in the rain-interrupted innings. The former scored a 9-ball 19 while the all-rounder scored just 1 off 8 balls before returning wicketless in the second innings.
Promoted as Nos 3 and 4 to keep the left-right combination going, both players struggled not only against short-ball tactic employed by Jayden Seales (1/28 in 6 overs), Alzarri Joseph (2/35 from 7 overs) and Shepherd (3/37 in 8 overs) but also the grip, turn and bounce that spinners Motie (3/36 in 9.3 overs) and Yannic Cariah (1/25 in 5 overs) generated.
Apart from a 90-run opening stand between Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, nothing worked in India’s favour after they were asked to bat first. Gill losing his wicket to Gudakesh Motie opened the floodgates and could never recover from the catastrophe caused by the Windies bowlers.
The rationale behind Rohit and Kohli’s forced break with only 10 months left before the big event, didn’t make much sense. Not to forget that the failures left more questions than answers.
