India 312 for 8 (Axar 64*, Iyer 63, Samson 54, Joseph 2-46, Mayers 2-48) beat West Indies 311 for 6 (Hope 115, Pooran 74, Thakur 3-54) by two wickets
India needed 100 to win from 60 balls with five wickets in hand, and Axar and Hooda were at the crease. Hooda fell for 33 with 56 to get off 36, leaving Axar and Shardul Thakur to complete the job. By then, Axar had already clobbered three sixes. More were on the way.
Samson got to his maiden ODI fifty – his knock of 54 off 51 balls included three fours and three sixes – and was at his best when clearing the long-off boundary by lofting the spinners, high elbows and all in full display. Iyer, on the other hand, had had a sedate start, managing only 19 off his first 33 deliveries. That is when he broke free to finish with 63 off 71 balls, cutting, pulling and lifting for boundaries.
The fact that India had as many as 312 to chase was down to Hope and Pooran’s fourth-wicket stand of 117, 74 of which came off Pooran’s bat. Hope got 115 – his third triple-figure score in 11 ODI innings.
But it was not just Hope who took a liking to Chahal; Pooran too bashed three sixes – including two in the 39th over – off him. Their partnership, just short of a-run-a-ball, gradually took the momentum away from India, who had struck twice in quick succession after an aggressive start by West Indies.
Through Hope and his opening partner Mayers, the hosts had put on 71 in the first ten overs – their joint-highest score in the period in ODIs since 2020. By the time Hooda broke through, pouching a simple return-catch from Mayers off the first ball of the tenth over, the pair had already smashed ten fours and a six. Mayers led the way in that stand, hitting 39 off 23 balls, as Avesh took the biggest beating.
Mayers timed and placed the ball equally well, and thrashed it around too. Once West Indies lost two wickets for three runs, Pooran took over the attacking role.
On 11 off his first 26 balls, he hit the first of his six sixes when he went hard and flat over long-off in the 32nd over; three overs later, he skipped down to send Chahal sailing back over his head. While sixes were hit off Axar and Avesh as well, Hope kept the scoreboard ticking at the other end.
Hope’s innings was one of three parts: he started with 22 off 21 balls, then got 73 from his next 103 deliveries, and hit 20 off his next 11 balls. It all added up to carry West Indies firmly towards the 300-run mark. He produced impressive drives and punches – and a poke through deep third for four – to start the day with Mayers, accumulated singles and ran well along with Pooran, and went for the slogs in the end after Pooran fell in the 44th over.
Cameos from Shamarh Brooks, Rovman Powell and Shepherd helped West Indies’ cause. Brooks got going the moment Mayers fell, and scored 35 off 36; Powell and Shepherd provided the finishing touches.
But eventually, the day belonged to Axar and Co despite the heroics of Pooran and Hope, especially the latter, who got to both his fifty and hundred with a six, in Virender Sehwag fashion, even as he played a more anchor-ish role.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo