Vijayhardik reports the second one day international between India and West Indies. Being Chris Gayle’s swansong, India crashed his party earlier in the T20 series and now the ODI series. Will the Windies be able to give Chris Gayle the farewell he deserves? An exclusive for Different Truths.

Chris Gayle is playing his swansong series. The once indomitable force who had the bowlers shaking in their boots is today a pale shadow of himself with rare moments of sparkle. In the process of playing his innings of 11 in the second ODI against India at Port of Spain surpassed Brian Lara as the highest run aggregator in the history of West Indies cricket.

After the drubbing West Indies suffered in the T20 series the current World Champions got on to the record books for the wrong reasons for holding the record of losing the greatest number of T20 internationals alongside Bangladesh.

After the drubbing West Indies suffered in the T20 series the current World Champions got on to the record books for the wrong reasons

With this backdrop, both the teams were going in to the encounter to get the ODI campaign underway after the first match was washed out by rain. Curtailed to being a virtual two match series it was imperative for both the teams to get on to the scoresheet to take an unassailable lead in the series by winning the game.

On a sunny Sunday morning drumming to the tunes of the Calypso music at the stadium India decided to make first use of the good batting conditions after winning the toss. Shikhar Dhawan continued his lean patch of form at the top of the order. He was once again caught napping at the crease. His early departure brought the pair of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli together about whom a lot has been commented in the media.

In the partnership, Kohli was the aggressor putting the ball away with élan and finesse across the boundary line, while Rohit Sharma was holding fort at one end.

Brushing aside the rumours, the pair together stitched on a 75-run partnership. In the partnership, Kohli was the aggressor putting the ball away with élan and finesse across the boundary line, while Rohit Sharma was holding fort at one end. It was quite a reversal of roles.

The pitch at the toss looked like a great wicket to bat on. But as the game progressed and the ball got softer, the odd ball stuck to the surface of the pitch and came on to the bat much slower than anticipated by the batsmen. It made shot making difficult for the batsmen. The changing conditions with every second over meant the batsmen had bring out their technique to the fore and maintain the scoring rate at the same time.

The duo of Rohit and Kohli handled the two paced pitch well. The sticky nature of the pitch offered help to the slower bowlers. Once the spinners came on the pitch began to show its tricks. And Rohit Sharma likes to take the spinners on. Over the years it has become one of the important facets of his game. Trying to put the pressure on Windies spinner Roston Chase, Rohit tried slog one over the leg side. His risk did not pay the dividends he hoped for and was dismissed courtesy a good catch from Nicholas Pooran.

Rishabh Pant after taking India to victory in the final T20 match was promoted up the order ahead of Shreyas Iyer.

His exit brought the latest contender for the elusive number four. Rishabh Pant after taking India to victory in the final T20 match was promoted up the order ahead of Shreyas Iyer. After a relatively brisk start to his innings the runs dried up for hm. He went through a period of drought which lasted about 14 deliveries. Of those 14, 12 of those deliveries he faced were dots. This was a test of his patience and temperament which is a talking point after every innings of his. It was once again talked about after a soft dismissal.

At 101-3 in the 23^rd over India needed to smooth things over a bit settle down the ruffled feathers. Captain Kohli joined hands with Shreyas Iyer to take India to a comfortable situation from where the big hitters lower down the order could capitalise on. Iyer took on the responsibility for scoring the quick runs while Kohli continued to play his game.

The partnership of Kohli and Iyer almost batted West Indies out of the game before Kohli succumbed trying to score quick runs. The slowness of the pitch aided his demise.

The partnership of Kohli and Iyer almost batted West Indies out of the game before Kohli succumbed trying to score quick runs. The slowness of the pitch aided his demise. He skied a slower ball which settled in the hands of long off. At the end of his tiring innings of a 120 in the humid conditions, he broke a few new records. He not only scored his 42^nd ODI ton which places him just 7 shy-off Tendulkar’s record of 49. He went past Saurav Ganguly on the tally of highest runs scored becoming second highest Indian run getter in the 50 over format.

The rain gods descended after his departure and the game was on hold for a while.  After the rain break, the Indian batsmen managed to add 50 runs in the remaining seven overs and take the Indian total to 279/7 in 50 overs.

West Indies had to salvage pride after T20 series. The World Champions of the shortest format of the game surrendered before the Indian team during the series. They had to chase down 280 in the stipulated 50 overs provided there were no rain interruptions.

The West Indian opening pair of Gayle and Lewis started the chase. Lewis got off the blocks quickly shouldering the burden of scoring runs while the Indian bowlers dried up the scoring opportunities for Gayle and tied him up at one end.

The West Indian opening pair of Gayle and Lewis started the chase. Lewis got off the blocks quickly shouldering the burden of scoring runs while the Indian bowlers dried up the scoring opportunities for Gayle and tied him up at one end. The swing king of India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar aka Bhuvi got one full length delivery to swing from the middle and got Gayle out LBW!

The new star on the block Shai Hope was dismissed cheaply for 5. The dual nature of the pitch coming into play, the ball bounced more than it normally would have had it followed its trajectory. The extra bounce caused Hope to play the ball onto his stumps.

Rain once again made its presence felt in the game. This time the interruption cost the game a total of four overs.

Rain once again made its presence felt in the game. This time the interruption cost the game a total of four overs. With the rain leaving its impact on the match, Messrs. DLS came into the play. West Indies now had to chase down a revised target of 270 in 46 overs. It was the responsibility of the next pair to make a match out it.

Evan Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer got the partnership going and were keeping up with the run rate. Against the run of play, Hetmyer getting a half tracker from the left-arm leggie Kuldeep Yadav tried to deposit the ball into the stands on the leg side but ended up looping the ball to short cover for a simple catch.

India were bringing themselves back into the game with wickets at regular intervals. But West Indies threatened to take the game away with their batting.

India were bringing themselves back into the game with wickets at regular intervals. But West Indies threatened to take the game away with their batting. Lewis reaching the 50-milestone was becoming the cornerstone to the West Indian chase. With an able ally in Pooran who was scoring runs at brisk pace, the match was getting tense.

At this point in the game, a moment of brilliance in the field from the Indian skipper turned the game on its head. It was another short ball from Kuldeep, which spun a bit and ended hitting the lower end of the bat. The ball was sailing over Kohli’s head when he timed the jumped to perfection and plucked the ball out of the air.

The wicket of Lewis at right moment stretched the West Indies batting. Pooran showed his inexperience at the international level as the nerves got better of him after Lewis’ dismissal. Bhuvi came back to bowl to take advantage of the weakness the West Indies batsmen were displaying.

As the adage in cricket goes “One brings two, two brings three!” proved true in this situation.

As the adage in cricket goes “One brings two, two brings three!” proved true in this situation. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had Pooran foxed by varying his pace and he was late on the pull shot to a slower short knuckle ball which landed in the safe hands of Kohli. A few deliveries later he had Chase caught off his bowling by putting in a spectacular acrobatic effort flying horizontal to his left.

The opening created by Bhuvi was exploited by Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami in the next couple of overs. It was Jadeja who struck gold first. The two quick wickets had set in a little amount of panic in the West Indian camp. This was evident when Braithwaite tried to hit Jadeja out of the park without reaching to the pitch of the ball. With the pitch too being helpful the ball went high in the air where Shami took the catch. In the next over Shami had his West Indian counterpart chopping onto his stumps.

By this time, it was once again a familiar tale of woe for the West Indian cricket team with Jason Holder being the last man standing, while others fell like a pack of cards.

By this time, it was once again a familiar tale of woe for the West Indian cricket team with Jason Holder being the last man standing, while others fell like a pack of cards. Sheldon Cottrell tried to have fun for a while throwing his bat at the bowling before delaying the inevitable loss. West Indies were bowled out for 210 in 42 overs. India won the match by 59 runs (DLS method).

Prior to the series, the pundits while having written off West Indies during the Tests predicted a tough battle for the Indians. But the West Indies offered limp submission and were rolled over. With the last game of the shorter formats coming up, will West Indies give Chris Gayle a happy send off?

Photos sourced by the author from the Internet