The Indian cricket team have another world record under their belt after their closely-fought victory over West Indies at the Port of Spain on Monday (July 15) morning. It was their 12th consecutive series win in the ODI format against the West Indies. Their two-wicket win was led by bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, who, uncharacteristically shone with the bat with a significant contribution of an unbeaten 64 runs.
Chasing a mighty target of 312 runs, India started their batting innings on a very slow note. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan struggled to find any momentum and was dismissed for a miserly score of 13. Leading the line was Shubman Gill, who kept the scorecard ticking with a formidable 49-ball 43. But India could only score 42 in the first powerplay before a brief rain break.
But midway through the innings, the visitors were five wickets down for 205 runs in 38.4 overs before Patel's heroics revived India's chase, with his six-hitting prowess taking India home with two balls to spare. This win also sealed the series 2-0, with India now winning 12 consecutive ODI series against the once ODI World Champions.
Fans were ecstatic after the win, also because the record that was broken was earlier set by Pakistan. India's bitter rivals had also won 11 consecutive ODI series against Zimbabwe.
When was the last time India lost an ODI series against West Indies?
The last time West Indies beat India in an ODI bilateral series was in 2006 under Brian Lara. Since then they have lost 12 series in a row against the Men in Blue. The 1-4 series defeat in 2006 interestingly came under current head coach Rahul Dravid’s captaincy.
Recap of the match
India needed six runs off the last three balls before Axar smashed the ball over bowler Kyle Mayers' head to gift the Men in Blue both the match and the series. This was after Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) tried to take the chase deep with well-paced fifties.
Earlier, opting to bat first, West Indies' Shai Hope produced a masterclass 135-ball 117, while skipper Nicholas Pooran displayed his big-hitting prowess with six maximums and a four during his 74 off 77 balls as the Windies posted an impressive 311 for six.
