India’s stand-in skipper, Shikhar Dhawan expressed his disappointment after missing out on a century in the first ODI against the West Indies in Port of Spain on Friday, July 22. However, the senior opener was happy to help the team to reach the competitive total as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. India held their nerves to seal a 3-run victory against a valiant West Indies side that nearly got over the line. West Indies finished with 305/6, falling short of the target by just 4 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan was the star of India’s win as he played a match-winning knock of 97 in just 99 balls after West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl. Dhawan failed to score his 18th century in ODIs as he fell short by just 3 runs while attempting to score a boundary against left-arm spinner Gudakesh Moite.
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After winning the match, during the post-match presentation, Shikhar Dhawan said, “It was disappointing but grateful for 97. I enjoyed it. It was difficult as it was holding a bit and turned. When Shubman, Shreyas and I were batting, we wanted to go big and make it easy for the youngsters.”
Notably, Shikhar Dhawan stitched a 119-run opening stand with Shubman Gill before adding 94 runs for the second wicket with Shreyas Iyer, who walked in at No. 3. Both Gill and Iyer hit a fifty each but India slowed down in the death overs, managing just 73 runs in the last 15 overs. Shikhar Dhawan conceded that India felt nerves when they were defending as they did not expect West Indies to come close.
West Indies rode on a classy 75 from opener Kyle Mayers and a solid fifty from Brandon King to get be in the chase throughout the innings. Romario Shepherd and Akeal Hosein played cameos in the end and gave India a massive scare but Mohammed Siraj successfully defended 15 runs in the final over to deliver a 3-run win for India.
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Elaborating the same, Shikhar Dhawan said, “We had nerves as we didn’t expect them to come this close. Fine leg went back and two three boundaries were stopped there which helped. We thought of using the bigger side, we gave doubles to the fine leg. One of them should have been a run out but not everyday is a perfect day. We have to get better.” After winning the first game, India will look to take a 2-0 unbeatable lead when they face West Indies at the same venue on Sunday, July 24.
