India beat West Indies by 59 runs in the second ODI as Shreyas Iyer had a 125-run partnership with Captain Virat Kohli on Sunday, August 11.
The right-hander’s steady 68-ball 71 proved to be one of the two match-winning knocks, the other being Kohli’s elegant 120 runs off 125 balls.
India lost Dhawan early, while Rohit struggled before being dismissed. However, the Indian skipper looked solid right from the beginning.
Batting at No. 4, Rishabh Pant managed only 20 off 35 balls before getting out yet again to a rash shot.
Soon after, Kohli and Iyer built a great match-winning partnership, and kept the scoreboard ticking by rotating strike. Not to forget, they balanced their defensive approach with aggressive biggies.
This is what the young bloke had to say after the match –
“I want to stay in the team for a while, the consistency is always important, I want to play well and contribute to the team,” Iyer said.
“It was a fruitful day. I knew I was going to do well, I played for India A and I played in these grounds, paced my innings well and think it went well.”
“I decided that I wouldn’t take any risks, Virat told me that we needed to build a partnership and take the innings deep.”
“He supported me very well, we took the ones and twos, hit the boundaries when it came. We decided 250 was a good score, obviously we got 30 runs extra. He told me to bat at least until the 45th over, I am thankful for what I managed,” he added.
On the other hand, Kohli praised the 24-year-old –
“He (Iyer) is a very confident guy and has the right attitude. Really got the tempo going and took the pressure off me. After I got out, he got the extra runs as well,” Virat said.
India lead 1-0, and will look to seal the series against West Indies in the third and final ODI on Wednesday, August 14.
