Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 98 and Yuzvendra Chahal’s 4-for powered India to a dominant 119-run victory over West Indies in the third ODI at Port of Spain on July 27. The visitors won the rain-affected contest on the DLS method, with several key contributions from their players.
Gill has not only reminded everyone why he is arguably the best young player in world cricket but has also made a strong case for next year’s ODI World Cup as he starred with an outstanding 98* in the third ODI.
Batting first, India started cautiously, with Shikhar Dhawan and Gill adding the first 50 runs in 67 balls. They soon picked up the pace and added the next fifty in 52 balls. The skipper perished in the 23rd over after making 58 off 74. An over later, the rain started pouring, and it halted the play for two and half hours.
The match resumed as a 40-overs per side contest. Gill and Shreyas Iyer shifted the gears quickly, adding 84 runs in 8.1 overs since the resumption. Iyer scored 44 off 34 before he holed out at long on while Suryakumar Yadav’s poor form in ODIs continued. When the play stopped due to rain for the second time, Gill was stranded 98 not out, with India’s scoreboard reading 225/3 in 36 overs.
The Windies were given a DLS adjusted target of 257 in 35 overs. Mohammed Siraj pegged them back straightaway, removing Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks in his first three balls. Chahal then dismissed Shai Hope while Axar Patel knocked over Brandon King on 42 off 37.
Captain Nicholas Pooran showed some fight with 42 off 32, but it wasn’t enough as they had fallen too far behind the game. Chahal ran through the tail as India skittled out the hosts for 137.
Gill bagged the ‘player of the match’ and the ‘player of the series’ awards. He scored 205 runs in three innings at the top of the order.
Brief scores
India 225/3 in 36 overs (Gill 98*, Dhawan 58; Walsh 2/57) defeated West Indies 137 in 26 overs (Pooran 42, King 42; Chahal 4/17, Mohammed Siraj 2/14) by 119 runs on DLS method.
