Shikhar Dhawan stars, Mohammed Siraj packs up thriller

PTI

Port of Spain, July 23

Shikhar Dhawan made a well-crafted 97 while Shubman Gill hit a classy 64 in his One-day International comeback before India held their nerves to pull off a three-run win over West Indies in the series-opener here on Friday.

Openers Dhawan (97 off 99 balls) and Gill (64 off 53) shared a 119-run stand before West Indies fought back to restrict India to 308/7.

West Indies needed 15 off the final over for a record chase at the Queens Park Oval but Mohammed Siraj was able to stop a rampaging Romario Shepherd (38 not out off 25).

At the top of the batting order, Kyle Mayers (75 off 68) and Shamarh Brooks (46 off 61) raised West Indies’ hopes with a 117-run stand for the second wicket before Brandon King (54 off 66) took the game deep. In the end, West Indies fell short and ended at 305/6.

Earlier, Shardul Thakur struck twice in the chase to bring India back into the game as he removed the well-set duo of Mayers and Brooks.

The highly-rated Mayers played a few spectacular strokes in his innings, including a one-legged pull off Siraj.

Skipper Nicholas Pooran (25 off 26) came in and punished Prasidh Krishna with two flat sixes over deep square leg and deep midwicket.

The hosts needed 60 from 90 balls and the 56-run stand between King and Akeal Hosein (32 not out off 32) kept India on the edge. However, Yuzvendra Chahal came up with a timely breakthrough to make the job tougher for the Windies.

The home team was kept in the chase by Shepherd and Hosein, but their brave partnership went in vain.

Brief Scores: India: 308/7 in 50 overs (Dhawan 97, Gill 64; Motie 2/54); West Indies: 305/6 in 50 overs (Mayers 75, King 54; Siraj 2/56)

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