Ahmedabad: Prasidh Krishna’s four-wicket haul helped India defend 237 and defeat West Indies by 44 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series here at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
With this win, India has gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The final ODI will be played at the same venue on Friday.
Chasing 237, West Indies openers Shai Hope and Brandon King put on 32 runs for the first wicket, but Prasidh Krishna led India’s fightback as he dismissed King (18) and Darren Bravo (1) in quick succession. Shai Hope (27) also departed soon after as he was sent back to the pavilion by Yuzvendra Chahal and West Indies was reduced to 52/3 in the 17th over.
Prasidh Krishna, Player of the Match, said, ‘I have been striving hard to do this for a long time. So, I am very happy that we won. I was still looking to hit the good areas. When I came in to bat, I knew it was still seaming. I would have laughed it off (If someone would have told him he would finish with the figures he ended with today). I had seen the wicket in the last game. Experimenting wasn’t possible as there was not much to defend. So, I stuck to good lines. I want to be as consistent as possible. The white ball cricket is a power game.’
Rohit Sharma, India captain, said, ‘ Obviously winning the series is a good feeling. There were some challenges. The partnership between Rahul and Surya had a lot of maturity. We got to a respectable total in the end. We knew we could fight it out. The entire unit came out and bowled superbly. It is important for these guys to bat under pressure and that is how you will judge their character. Surya had to take his time and understand what the team wants from him. KL also batted superbly as he is consistently up and down in the order. I have been asked to try different things, so that was something different (on Pant opening). We wanted to try it one game and is not a permanent thing. Shikhar should be back for the next game. We don’t mind losing a few games while trying out a few things. Because it is important to look at the long term goals. We will see what works out well for the team combination (for the final ODI). I was a little surprised to see no dew. I have never seen a spell like that in India for a long time now. Bowled with a lot of pace and kept it going. The others complemented him. When you have five bowlers and Deepak being sixth, you always need to keep rotating the bowlers.’
Nicholas Pooran, West Indies captain, said, ‘ With the bat, we didn’t build partnerships. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals. In the 39th over, we lost Fabian first and then Hosein in the very next. We need to continue to be aggressive. Pollard is a tough and big guy and should be back. Smith is a strong guy. He is a little inexperienced but sky is the limit for him. We did a good job with the ball and hopefully we can do the same in the final game. And also do better with the bat.’