Not Axar Patel; Shikhar Dhawan Reckons Partnership Between Shreyas Iyer-Sanju Samson Made The Difference
Trinidad: India captain Shikhar Dhawan reckoned it was the 99-run-stand between Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson that made the difference on Sunday as India beat Windies by two wickets in a thriller at Trinidad to seal the series 2-0. Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) struck fine half-centuries, but it was Axar Patel’s unbeaten 35-ball 64 that took India over the line. Dhawan hailed all the three and credited IPL for helping players perform at the big stage.
“Iyer, Sanju, Axar everyone was amazing, Even Avesh came out in his debut game and scored those 11 important runs. Thanks to IPL, they perform on a huge stage. I felt that we bowled nicely. They got off to a good start. Hope and Pooran batted well. We thought if they could do it, we knew that we could do it. We started a little slow. Shubman batted well. The Iyer-Samson partnership made a huge difference,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation.
Opting to bat, Shai Hope smashed a delightful century, while Nicholas Pooran hit a half-century to power West Indies to 311 for six on Sunday. Opening the batting, Hope remained unbeaten on 115 off 135 balls, while Pooran scored 74 off 77 balls. For India, Shardul Thakur picked most wickets, returning with figures of three for 54 in 7 overs.
Brief Scores: West Indies: 311 for 6 in 50 overs (Shai Hope 114, Nicholas Pooran 74; Shardul Thakur 3/54). India: 312 for eight in 49.4 overs (Axar Patel 64 not out, Shreyas Iyer 63, Sanju Samson 54; Alzarri Joseph 2/46, Kyle Mayers 2/48).
The final ODI would be played on Wednesday and India is expected to try new combinations with the series in the pocket.