India 406 for 2 (Gill 223*, Rohit 101) beat West Indies 405 for 7 (Jangoo 114, Hope 104, Campbell 101, Kuldeep 2-65) by eight wickets
The conditions in Guwahati offered the bowlers nothing: little swing, little seam, negligible turn, hardly any variable bounce or loss of pace in the surface, no reverse swing. The outfield was lightning quick with many a defensive push hurtling across for four. It still needed skill, discipline, intent, appetite and fitness from batters to do what was done. And at the age of 27, with 11 hundreds and 31 fifty-plus scores in just 69 matches, Gill, who ended up with the highest score for a captain, might just have the most of all those qualities in ODI cricket today.
It should put in perspective Kuldeep Yadav’s analysis of 10-0-65-2, which made him the second-quickest Indian to 200 ODI wickets, and Naman Dhir’s part-time offspin that went for just 38 in 6.1 overs before he got injured. India also had debutant Auqib Nabi’s comeback to thank for, after they lost Prasidh Krishna to injury after he had bowled five overs. The last 11 overs produced 82 for 5, which eventually might have been the difference between an easy chase and what might have tested India.
