West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. It’s a good surface to bat on and the Indian openers started well. Shikhar Dhawan, the seventh captain of India in 2022, scored two boundaries in the first over and Shubhman Gill scored a boundary in the first ball that he faced, putting a little more pressure on the bowlers. Plenty of opportunities for this young Indian side against a very competitive West Indian bowling side. In the first six of the innings by Shubman,  his commitment to the shot ensured it went beyond the boundary. Alzari Joseph concedes 15 runs in the over. India started well, 29 for no loss after 3 overs.

Alzari Joseph paid the price by bowling too short and down the legside, and Shikhar Dhawan hooked away over the boundary line, the second six of the match. Expensive start from Alzari Joseph, conceding 25 runs in his first three overs.  Bowling change by West Indies captain, Romario Shepherd, consecutive fours to Shikhar Dhawan on either side of the wicket, 50 on the board for India after 7 overs.

Jayden Seales was given only 10 runs in his first three overs, however, he bowled a few bad deliveries in his fourth. Gill utilizes those, another fine touch from Gill works it away past midwicket for a boundary to the leg side. Jayden Seales has given width and height works to point to the second boundary of the over. It’s a pure batting track and Gill scored another two boundaries in the over against Kyle Mayers and took the Indian score to 73 for no loss after 10 overs.

Shubman Gill completes his maiden ODI half-century in 36 balls by working away a length ball from Kyle Mayers through midwicket for a run. India completed 100 runs in 14 overs. Shikhar Dhawan completed his half-century in 52 balls, the 36^th half-century for him. Wonderful fielding from the West Indies captain, Shubaman Gill was run-out for 64 runs.

West Indies needed something special and the captain produces it, the first breakthrough for West Indies. The fallen wicket reduced India’s scoring rate but India was still en route to a strong total. Halfway mark of the innings after 25 overs India was 152 for one wicket.

Shikhar and Iyer consistently rotate the strike and a few boundaries here and there have kept Nicolas Pooram and West Indies always under pressure. Shikhar Dhawan swept Motie over deep square leg for a six and that brought the fifty partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Sreya Iyer from 57 balls. Sreyas Iyer started slowly and built his momentum going.

Dhawan was on his way to a well-deserved hundred and hit a six against Motie over midwicket and moved to 97 runs from 98. Motie responded by picking up Dhawan in his very next ball, Dhawan tried to find a gap towards the square boundary but Brooks takes an excellent catch to send back Dhawan and India was 213 for 2. That was the second highest partnership of the Indian innings as the pair scored 94 runs off 97 balls.

Sreyas Iyer completed his half-century from 53 balls but fell soon after. What a catch by the West Indies captain, utilizing every inch of his height to grab that from the air, Motie picks up his second wicket of the match, and two set batsmen are back in the pavilion.

Surya Kumar Yadav played one on to the stumps, bottom edge, he was gone for 13 and India is 247 for 4. What’s happening out there in the middle, Hooda hits one straight away, in the second ball that he faced, to the deep but Motie can’t hold on to the catch and he hurts his fingers in the process. It was looking India was on the way to a total of 350+, but the quick wickets have put brakes on India’s run flow again, Jayden Seales bowled a maiden in the 40^th over and just a single in the 42^nd over, an excellent comeback by West Indies, India was 251 for after 42 overs.

The dot balls had increased the pressure and Sanju Samson tries to flick a delivery, beaten, and hits him on the pads. He reviews immediately but the ball was missing in the edge and was clipping the leg stump, 252 for 5. Boundaries have been dried in the death overs (51 balls and 42 minutes without a boundary) and West Indian bowlers were bowling according to the conditions. Excellent bowling from West Indies in the last 15 overs and they were able to restrict India to 305 for six wickets. Their bowlers ensured that they stick to the plan with good support from their fielders. India was disappointed for missing the firepower at the crucial moment and they are at least short of 20 to 30 runs.

India needed wickets to start with and West Indies needed a good partnership at the top to win this match. Mohammed Siraj provided the wicket that India wanted, Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks built the platform for West Indies to chase that target, and the game was in the balance when this partnership was broken. Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks have made 117 runs off 114 balls. Three more 50+ partnerships were put up by West Indies batsmen, however, they fell short of 3 runs after 50 overs. 15 runs were needed in the final over and Mohammed Siraj held his nerve and bowled an excellent over to restrict West Indies to 305 for six wickets and gifted a nail-biting win for India.