The New PCA Stadium was decked up for its first men’s ODI, expecting local boy Shubman Gill to extend his dream streak. The law of averages was cruelly overdue after West Indies had dismissed him only once in 241 deliveries in two games. Gill deprived his home crowd of a spectacle. Instead, the day belonged to his counterpart Shai Hope, who watched Gill butcher a 406-run chase from behind the stumps three nights ago in Guwahati.
Switching positions three times in six days, Hope went back to his sweetest spot at the top. He made his fifth century against India, his highest score at 162 not out, to power a consolation five-wicket win in an emphatic 352-run chase on Saturday.
The Indian team management ticked off a few boxes on its batting wish-list, through a sparkling KL Rahul century and Rohit Sharma’s 92. The bowling unit left more questions unanswered in a botched defence.
Despite a batting order trimmed by injuries, the Windies top order kept Gill’s bowlers on their toes, matching the asking rate from the start. India’s new-ball struggles eased briefly when Siraj’s inswinger castled John Campbell in the fifth over. The search for able back-ups hit a wall again when Hope and Amir Jangoo took apart debutant Anshul Kamboj in his opening spell. Kamboj had been pulled out midway through India A’s first-class fixture in Pondicherry on Thursday as Prasidh Krishna’s replacement. He leaked 41 in five overs.
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Only a run-out, from Virat Kohli’s quick reflexes, looked likely to end Jangoo’s 111-run association with Hope. Kuldeep Yadav skimmed without reward, and Naman Dhir emerged as an unlikely wicket-taker with a contentious caught-behind.
Moving up from No. 3 in the previous game, Hope moved smoothly towards his fifth century against India and a second in succession. With few proven hitters in the lower half, an injury to Jewel Andrew and cramps in his legs, Hope slowed down drastically, taking 44 balls without a boundary from 87 to 126. That phase partly dented the chase before the captain waded into the last four overs. Gurnoor Brar and Kamboj traded control for a batch of looseners, and Hope and Gudakesh Motie carted them for eight boundaries in 14 deliveries, which took the chase away.
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Earlier, a full reveal of the middle order brought India a fourth centurion of the series in KL Rahul, who walked out with the bat for the first time this series. He picked up from where Rohit stopped, after Rohit had braved a sharpened new-ball barrage on length from the West Indies pacers.
Jayden Seales and Matthew Forde combined to tempt Gill into an unusual adventure early on. It took only four consistent length deliveries before Gill impatiently missed a charged slap through cover. Seales pounded the deck harder next time, the angle cramping Gill as he nicked behind his hips to the keeper. Virat Kohli was gone the next ball, his fourth golden duck in over 300 outings, when Seales’ vicious in-ducker found the middle stump.
With the pacers’ lengths rarely overspilling, Rohit measured his release after a watchful spell and pulled impulsively for six over square-leg in the 12th over, though the vision behind his favourite shot has fluctuated this series.
Rahul’s 87-ball 129 took India to 351/7 against West Indies. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
He had nearly fallen to the stadium DJ’s plea for a maximum in the 10th over, miscuing a pull just over mid-wicket. Fifty balls in, Rohit slouched and pumped Alzarri Joseph over the square-leg fence, the same over that produced a reckless heave across the line before a leading edge parried over backward point. The venom of the pacers had dissipated by then, and Rohit switched gears against the left-arm spinners. Vitel Lewis and Gudakesh Motie bled boundaries as Rohit unfurled the sweep, the conventional and the slog, with brutal accuracy. Another abrupt swipe proved fatal, against seamer Keemo Paul’s innocuous length ball, and he holed out at deep mid-wicket eight short of a third ton in four innings.
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Surviving a string of four dropped catches between his 13th and 69th delivery, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s weary half-century held the fort until Rahul shifted gears at five. With dismissive drives off the seamers at regular intervals, he reached fifty in 41 deliveries. Shepherding the lower order with a calm head, Rahul bought himself vital game time at number five after a patchy England series two months ago.
He timed a chilling overdrive towards the close, five sixes in his last 12 deliveries, which reiterated his worth. It still fell short against another keeper-batter’s riposte.
Brief scores: India 351/7 in 50 overs (KL Rahul 129 not out, Rohit Sharma 92; Jayden Seales 3/62) lost to West Indies 352/5 in 48.2 overs (Shai Hope 162 not out, Amir Jangoo 67) by five wickets.
