West Indies' highest-ever ODI total in vain as bowling fails again to hand India the series
West Indies produced the highest ODI total in their history in Guwahati on Wednesday — and still lost by eight wickets. Having piled up 405, a total that should have been mathematically impossible to overhaul, Shai Hope's side watched Shubman Gill and India prove otherwise, surrendering the three-match series 2-0 with a game to spare.
From 60 runs short to 405
Hope had said after the series opener that West Indies were 60 to 80 runs short of truly testing India's batting lineup. This time they answered emphatically, with centuries from three of their top four powering the tourists to 405.
Yet for the second game running they found no answer to stemming the flow of runs, failing to pick up more than two wickets in either match. They simply caved under pressure, with no bowler looking remotely threatening enough to create even a half-chance. Jayden Seales and the 19-year-old Vitel Lawes showed flashes of brilliance, but the tourists failed to put together a complete bowling performance.
A batting onslaught in maroon
On a placid surface, the West Indies top order was rampant. John Campbell laid the platform, unleashing his full repertoire of shots, before Hope and Amir Jangoo added a marathon 182-run stand for the third wicket that squeezed the life out of the Indian attack. Hope rode his luck too, surviving two dropped catches, and made the hosts pay heavily for both.
India struck late with a flurry of quick wickets, but it was nowhere near enough to stop West Indies crossing 400 — their highest ever ODI total.
Hope: 'A lot of positives to take'
"There are a lot of positives to take from this game, to be very honest," Hope said with a smile, highlighting his side's batting first and noting they have now put up competitive totals consistently.
On the bowling, the West Indies captain acknowledged that the margin for error shrinks to almost nothing against some of the greatest batters in the world, and that giving them any kind of start makes life extremely difficult. He gave credit where it was due while admitting his side probably needed to be a touch tighter with the ball to give themselves a real chance after posting 400 on the board.
Unlike the first ODI, when wickets fell in quick succession, Hope credited his batters for laying down the foundation — something they had specifically spoken about over the last couple of days, with the focus on keeping wickets in hand heading into the back end of the innings. He identified the spinners as the main threat through the middle phase, which made building that platform all the more important.
Protecting a teenager on his first tour of India
Hope put his late introduction of Vitel Lawes down to a bit of both tactics and care. He did not want to hand the 19-year-old the hardest overs to bowl, especially on his first tour to India, and the priority was making him feel as confident as possible given the occasion.
He was pleased to see someone so young step up and do the job for the team, bowling really well in the process, and is confident the youngster — with plenty still to learn — will only keep getting better from here.
Guwahati's recurring nightmare
The venue has never been kind to West Indies. Back in 2018, they failed to defend 322 here, blown away by a 246-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. On Wednesday, they were taken apart while defending 405 — this time by Gill's brilliance.
Positives to bank before the qualifiers
West Indies have lost the series, but these positives will count for a lot with the World Cup qualifiers coming next year. Campbell and Jangoo, in particular, have done enough to cement their places in the ODI setup — and, crucially, neither is a one-dimensional player.
The teams return to New Chandigarh for the third and final ODI on Saturday, 3 October (first ball 2 pm IST), where West Indies will be eager to dust this off and salvage pride. The tour then moves into a five-match T20I series in Lucknow, Ranchi, Indore, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.