At the second One-Day International of the three-match series against West Indies on Sunday at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, Axar Patel’s 64 not out off 35 balls assisted India in chasing down a 312-run mark. With it, India secured an unbeatable 2-0 series lead.

For the visitors, West Indies had managed to produce a somewhat difficult total. Having chosen to bat first, the openers got things going quickly, scoring 45 runs in the first 6 overs. Kyle Mayers is front aggressive batter, which allowed Shai Hope to keep patience. Shamarh Brooks also had a good start, but like Mayers, he was unable to capitalize on it. In his 100th ODI, Shai Hope became the fourth West Indian batter to hit a century, while Pooran also contributed significantly with a crucial performance that featured six maximums.

Avesh Khan didn’t have the best debut. Shardul Thakur was most successful with 3 wickets. Axar, Chahal, and Hooda took 1 each.

The game was stolen for India by Axar Patel. At the very end, his imperious hitting kept hopes up. When the pressure was on, some clean hits kept India in pursuit and they persisted till they crossed the finish line. Shubhman played another good knock but couldn’t stretch it beyond 43. After India fell behind by three for 79, Iyer and Samson gave them something to relax on. However, both got out after scoring fifties. Then Hooda and Axar joined forces, but Axar ultimately carried the baton to the finish line scoring a 35-ball 64*. Avesh Khan relieved some of Axar’s pressure by swinging strongly and scoring a few fours.

Windies bowlers tried to stretch it till the end with Alzarri and Mayers taking two wickets each. Seales, Shepherd, and Hosein went home with 1 wicket in each’s bag. They tried, but weren’t successful to stretch the game to the end as Axar stole it from them by 2 wickets.

India have figured out how to escape prison. Due to a few careless mistakes, Windies are still incarcerated. In ODIs, they are still in free fall. Although they are improving, they haven’t been able to perform when it counts.

The ODI series has been gobbled by India, but there is still one game left, and Windies will try to rally. They had a hard time getting over the last game. And today’s game would have increased the resentment a hundredfold.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Axar Patel