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West Indies National Cricket Team captain Shai Hope opened up on the performance of his side in the final ODI of the three-match series against the Indian National Cricket Team on Wednesday, October 3, at the PCA Stadium, New Chandigarh. The West Indies beat the Men in Blue side by 5 wickets as the series ended 2-1 in favour of India.
Speaking after the win, Shai Hope was happy with the performance of the team and his own as well, as he finished the game unbeaten, with the Windies pulling off a record chase, and he was the player of the match for his exceptional innings of 162 runs.
KL Rahul played a superb knock
India won the toss and elected to bat first. Both sides made three changes each in the dead rubber match. The Men in Blue brought in Mohammed Siraj, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and debutant Anshul Kamboj. Windies dropped Keacy Carty, Shamar Joseph, and Roston Chase. India had a poor start as they lost Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli early, as the latter was dismissed for a golden duck.
Rohit Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad then stitched a 137-run partnership for the third wicket. The former nearly got back-to-back hundreds as he was dismissed for 92 runs. Gaikwad also played a crucial knock of 57 runs, and KL Rahul’s 129* helped India post 351/7 in their 50 overs.
Shai Hope played a captain's knock
Coming out to chase 352, Windies had a decent start, but John Campbell was dismissed for 10 runs as Siraj, in his comeback game, dismissed him. Shai Hope and Amir Jangoo once again stitched a 109-run partnership, as the latter was dismissed in a mix-up. Then Sherfane Rutherford was controversially given out.
Shai Hope stuck at one end and scored his second century of the series, and kept his runs as the wickets fell from the other end. He was unbeaten on the score of 162* off 143 deliveries, smacking 17 boundaries and three sixes as he played a captain’s knock for the side. This was West Indies' highest successful run-chase in ODIs.
"It's a lot easier when the dew comes out": Shai Hope on West Indies' record run chase
After the match, Shai Hope stated that as the dew came in the second innings, it was a lot easier to bat, and he also wanted to finish the series on high. He praised the batters for their excellent performance in the series. He also provided an update on the injury that he had.
He said in the post-match presentation (as quoted by Cricbuzz), "It's a lot easier when the dew comes out. We wanted to finish the series on a high. Felt something in the groin region. We were a batter down. It was always going to be a challenge."
"Tried not to focus on the end result. Trusted the process. We played some really good cricket in patches. We've been doing well as a batting unit. It's tough bowling in these conditions. Very small margin of error."
