India vs West Indies, 2018: Five unnoticed things from the second ODI
In a stunning spectacle played out at Visakhapatnam where no team emerged out as a clear winner or a loser, both the teams fought with all their might. Shai Hope leads the Windies chase and was on strike for the last ball where the visitors needed five runs to win. Facing Umesh Yadav, Hope punched the final ball for a boundary and equalled the scores, hence resulting in a tied game.
India won the toss and decided to bat first on the Vizag track. After losing the successful openers, the responsibility of run-scoring fell on the shoulders of Virat Kohli and the middle order. Rayudu stood firmly in support of the captain and the duo carried India out of danger. Once Pant and Dhoni fell cheaply, Kohli stepped up with his attacking game and scored a magnificent 157 not out from 129 balls to take the team total to 321/6.
In reply, Windies openers provided a brisk start with Kieron Powell and C Hemraj firing all guns. Kuldeep Yadav brought India back into the game with two quick wickets but it was not enough. Centurion from the previous game, Shimron Hetmyer launched another ferocious attack and Shai Hope continued accumulating runs from the other end. WI needed 14 runs from the last over of Umesh Yadav, they eventually managed to equal the score and script a tie.
Here are five things that may have gone unnoticed from tonight’s thrilling game
#1 Windies’ Vizag connection
Today’s ODI was Windies’ third match at this ground. They were the only successful opposition so far which managed to defeat the hosts at this place. Even confronting an uphill task of chasing 322 runs against the mighty Indian team, WI chased with all their power and almost pulled off a miraculous win.
India had played six ODIs at this venue of Visakhapatnam before today’s game. The home team won four matches out of these while one was cancelled. India suffered only one loss at this ground prior to this match and it came against the same opponent as that of today, Windies.
In 2013 tour of India, Windies played their 2nd ODI at this venue of Vizag. India with an inning of 99 from Virat Kohli and a quick-fire 51 from MS Dhoni raised the total of 288/7 while batting first. As many as four WI batsmen struck half-centuries and with a brilliant 63 off 45 balls from Daren Sammy, the visitors won the match with two wickets remaining.