Indian batter Shreyas Iyer was pleased with his contribution in his side’s second straight win against West Indies on July 24, but expressed disappointment in missing out on a big score.
After a steady 57-ball 54 in the series opener, which Rohit Sharma’s men went on to win by three runs, Iyer struck 63 off 71 in India’s successful 312 run-chase in the second game of the series Sunday. He struck four fours and a six, while also adding a crucial 99-run stand with Sanju Samson, before Axar Patel’s heroic 64* off 35 helped India cross the line with two wickets and as many balls to spare.
It was his seventh fifty in eight ODI innings against the Windies, and the fourth overall in five innings at the one-down position, wherein he currently averages 55.80. The 27-year-old expressed his joy in having got the opportunity to bat at No.3 in Virat Kohli’s absence.
“It is a fun position to bat at, and I really enjoy it. You go in and you have to see the new ball and then build your innings. Also if the openers have got into a really good partnership, then you have to carry forward that momentum,”
Iyer said in a post-match interview.
However, the right-hander rued at having missed an opportunity to bat long enough to get a hundred.
“I thought that I could have taken the team through easily and set up the total, but I was very unfortunate with the way I got out. Hopefully, I will be able to score a century in the next one,”
he added.
The match kept swinging from one team’s grasp to the other, before Axar Patel sealed the deal with a maximum downtown off Kyle Mayers, when India needed six off the final three balls. Iyer lauded the all-rounder’s brilliance, while revisiting the dressing-room atmosphere during the chase.
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