Shai Hope's special century in his 100th ODI appearance and captain Nicholas Pooran's impactful 74 went in vain as West Indies lost yet another yet match in the series on Sunday. The wrecker-in-chief this time was Axar Patel, who scored India's second-fastest half-century against the Windies, to seal the last-over thriller for the Men in Blue as the visitors chased down the target of 312 in the second ODI in Port of Spain with just two balls to spare. Axar sealed the deal with massive six in the last over and with that broke MS Dhoni's 17-year-old record.
After India went three down for 79 in the 18th over of the chase, Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) helped India recover with his 99-run stand with both scoring their respective half-centuries. Deepak Hooda (33) and Axar then stitched a quick fifty-run stand before West Indies exposed India's tail-end batting with the latter as last hope in the chase.
West Indies did dominate the majority of the defense but Axar's flurry of boundaries - 3 fours and 5 sixes - along with Avesh Khan's twin boundaries reduced the equation to 6 needed off 3. Axar then held his nerve and smashed the wider low full toss delivery from Kyle Mayers in the fourth ball of the last over, over long-off, as India inflicted another shattering loss for the Windies.
With the unbeaten knock of 64 runs off 35 balls, Axar broke Dhoni's long-standing record in ODI cricket. The five sixes he hit during the chase is now the most by an India batter at No.7 or lower in a successful ODI chase. Dhoni had recorded three sixes during India's chase against Zimbabwe back in 2005. Yusuf Pathan had equalled Dhoni's tally twice in his career, both in 2011 - against South Africa and Ireland.
{{/usCountry}}With the unbeaten knock of 64 runs off 35 balls, Axar broke Dhoni's long-standing record in ODI cricket. The five sixes he hit during the chase is now the most by an India batter at No.7 or lower in a successful ODI chase. Dhoni had recorded three sixes during India's chase against Zimbabwe back in 2005. Yusuf Pathan had equalled Dhoni's tally twice in his career, both in 2011 - against South Africa and Ireland.
{{/usCountry}}"I think this is a special one. It came at a crucial time and also helped the team to win the series. We have done the same in the IPL. We just needed to remain calm and keep the intensity up. I was playing an ODI after close to 5 years. I would want to continue performing like this for my team," Axar said after the match.