Guwahati, Sep 30 (IANS) Skippers usually ask for the heavy roller after enduring 50 overs of absolute leather-hunting in humid conditions as a matter of routine, but Shubman Gill asked for it and clearly knew what was coming. What followed over the next three-and-a-half hours at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati was an absolute, unmitigated carnage of historical proportions.
Driven by a record-shattering unbeaten 223 off 133 balls by skipper Gill and a vintage 75-ball 101 from his opening partner Rohit Sharma, India pulled off their highest successful men’s ODI run-chase by hunting down a monumental 406-run target set by the West Indies to seal an eight-wicket win with 39 balls to spare.
It also marked the second-highest successful run-chase of all time in 50-over cricket, after South Africa hunted down 438 against Australia in 2006, as India made a daunting multi-hundred target look like effortless work.
Coming into the chase requiring a steep 8.12 runs per over, the Indian dynamic duo extinguished the threat within the opening powerplay itself. Rohit and Gill launched a furious, synchronised assault of boundaries that left Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales, and Alzarri Joseph utterly bewildered.
India motored to its fifty in seven overs before sprinting to 100 inside 12 overs. Rohit got to his half-century off 32 balls, while Gill was even more ruthless – after getting his fifty in 39 balls, he registered his hundred off just 62 deliveries.
By the time India reached 200 in 21.1 overs, their fastest team double-hundred in 50-over cricket, the West Indies attack was visually demoralised. Keacy Carty dropping Rohit on 84 off wrist-spinner Vitel Lawes only compounded their misery.
The masterclass opening stand finally came to an end at 255 runs, the highest opening partnership for India in an ODI chase, when Jayden Seales trapped Rohit LBW with an off-cutter, as Rohit’s stunning hundred also saw him cross the monumental milestone of 12,000 ODI runs.
Virat Kohli made a brief, breezy 29 off 19 balls, including three fours and a six, before holing out to a brilliant boundary-line relay catch by Sherfane Rutherford off Shamar Joseph. But by then, India had reduced the remainder of a chase to a mere formality.
He may not have hit the winning runs at the end, but this historic night unequivocally belonged to Gill, who played an absolute epic in Guwahati. Battling severe leg cramps in the extreme humidity during the closing stage of the chase, Gill continued to pull, drive, and loft with supreme elegance and disdain to hit 26 boundaries and eight sixes at a monstrous strike rate of 167.67.
Gill reached his 150 off a staggering 89 balls before bringing up his double century off just 117 deliveries with a single off Lawes in the 39th over. In doing so, he broke Ishan Kishan’s record (126 balls) for the fastest ODI double-century in world cricket.
It was also Gill’s second career ODI double century, making him the only captain in cricket history to score double tons in both Tests and ODIs while leading the side. His unbeaten 223 also surpassed Glenn Maxwell’s 201 not out against Afghanistan in 2023 to become the highest individual score in an ODI run-chase.
Fittingly, Ruturaj Gaikwad provided calm support at the end with an unbeaten 31 off 37 balls and got the winning single to complete a legendary victory and spark wild celebrations in the Indian dressing room and across the stands.
Earlier, the West Indies had posted a mammoth 405/7 after being sent in to bat, riding on sensational centuries from Amir Jangoo, captain Shai Hope and John Campbell. On any other day, a 400-plus total would have comfortably guaranteed victory. But on a humid night in Guwahati, Gill ensured the match would belong entirely to India.
Brief scores:
West Indies 405/7 in 50 overs (Amir Jangoo 114, Shai Hope 104, John Campbell 101; Kuldeep Yadav 2-65, Ravindra Jadeja 2-75) lost to India 406/2 in 43.3 overs (Shubman Gill 223 not out, Rohit Sharma 101; Shamar Joseph 1-52, Jayden Seales 1-78) by eight wickets
–IANS
nr/bsk/