'That was the difference': Samson's terrific diving effort after Siraj error helps India survive thriller vs WI - Watch

While Mohammed Siraj was brilliant with the ball in the last over, it was wicketkeeper Sanju Samson who stood between victory and defeat for West Indies as India grabbed a narrow three-run win in the thriller in Port of Spain on Friday.

West Indies had a massive record in sight. The target of 309, which did look huge at the start of the chase, stood inches away as Nicholas Pooran-led home team were on the verge of recording their highest successful ODI chase at the Queen's Park Oval. A 115-run second-wicket stand between Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks, a 51-run stand between Mayers and Pooran, a 56-run stand between Akeal Hosein and Brandon King and another half-century stand between Hosein and Romario Shepherd put West Indies just close to the target with India needing 15 runs to save in the final over. But while Mohammed Siraj was brilliant with the ball in the last over, it was wicketkeeper Sanju Samson who stood between victory and defeat for West Indies as India grabbed a narrow three-run win in the thriller in Port of Spain on Friday.

Sanju Samson's terrific effort

In the third ball of the last over, Shepherd smashed his third boundary in the match, clobbering the fuller delivery from Siraj through backward square. West Indies had managed seven runs already in the first four balls, requiring 8 more in the last two.

Siraj saw Shepherd shuffling towards the leg side and hence corrected his line and bowled down the leg side, but it went well wide of the batter and looked set to run away for a gifted four. The equation would have come down to three off the last ball. But wicketkeeper Samson was quick enough to follow the ball as he made a terrific diving effort towards his left to stop the extra run, hence saving India of conceding a boundary off a wide ball.

“Sanju Samson’s stop was the difference in the end. 100% boundary. And that would’ve been Game Windies," tweeted former India cricketer Aakash Chopra after the game.

With seven required from the last two balls, Siraj held his nerves and conceded only three more runs as India scripted a thrilling win to kick off the ODI series with a 1-0 lead.

"There were nerves in the end and didn't expect it to turn that way. We kept our cool and one small change in the end where we pushed the fine leg back and that really helped us. The discussion was to use the bigger side as much as we can and we want to keep on learning and make ourselves better for the rest of the competition," India captain Shikhar Dhawan said at the end of the match after he collected his Player of the Match award for his brilliant 97 off 99.