India bagged a comfortable eight-wicket win over the West Indies in the second ODI of the three-game series at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday, September 30.
Delving into the details of the game, West Indies was tasked with batting first, and they posted a whopping total of 405/7 in 50 overs. John Campbell (101), Shai Hope (104) and Amir Jangoo (114) were the top scorers in the first innings.
In the chase, India crossed the finish line in 43.3 overs with eight wickets in hand. Rohit Sharma (101) and Shubman Gill (223*) were the showstealers as India sealed the series 2-0 with one more game left.
On that note, let’s take a look at who said what after the second ODI.
Shai Hope, West Indies captain:
“Lot of positives I can take from it to be honest. Mainly from the batting side. As a batting group we have been consistently putting up competitive totals. But when you come up against some of the best batters, you can’t let them have a start like that. Have to give credit where it’s due, but if I had to be really critical, we had to be a little tighter with the ball. [On delaying Lawes] You don’t want to give him the hardest overs. But that’s not saying I don’t think he’d do well. I just wanted to make sure he’s comfortable. He bowled a really good spell and I am sure he’ll keep going.”
Shubman Gill, Indian captain and POTM:
“I think every part of my body is cramping right now. It was very hot in the afternoon. When it was 13 overs, it felt like we had fielded for 25 overs, the way they were batting. Great game. At the half time, 400 on the board, there was a a bit of pressure. No matter the pitch or ground, chasing 400 is not easy. Very proud of that performance and happy to stay unbeaten till the end. I break the game into small parts. First we had a target in the powerplay that if we get to 75-80 runs without losing wickets, it was good. We knew once the ball got a little old it would be good to bat on. I thought if were around 200-210 around the 25-mark over, we would be good but we were around 230-240. And after that the pressure was never on us, it was on them. I thought initially we didn’t bowl that well in the powerplay, similar to the first game. They batted with a lot of freedom and batted quite well. At one time it looked like they might even get 420-430, so to be able to pull the game even by 20-30 runs was a bonus at the back end. [Changes in the next game?] Yeah, maybe. We ideally would want to give players who haven’t had a chance a chance and we’ll see what combination suits us.”
