Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 223 off 133 balls, the fastest double hundred in ODI history, and Rohit Sharma’s 101 helped India maul down a target of 406, their highest chase in the format and only the second time a target of 400 or more has been chased in ODIs, after South Africa’s 438 against Australia in Johannesburg in 2006. India got there with 39 balls to spare and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
On a pancake-flat pitch in Guwahati, West Indies had already shown how little there was on offer for the bowlers. Being sent in to bat, John Campbell, Shai Hope and Amir Jangoo all got hundreds as India’s attack was hit all around the ground, with debutant Auqib Nabi finishing with 0 for 84 from his 8.5 overs, the most expensive debut for an Indian bowler. Rohit and Gill later added two more hundreds in a match where 811 runs were scored, making this the third-highest aggregate in ODIs and the first in which five batters scored centuries.
For all the records Gill broke on his way to his second ODI double hundred, his innings started streakily. In the first over, Jayden Seales got one to move off the seam and Gill’s attempted cut produced a thick under-edge that went past off stump and ran away for four. In his next over, Seales came back to beat him with one that nipped away sharply. But at the other end, Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph kept offering width and letting the built-up pressure evaporate, conceding 14 and 17 respectively in their first overs.
India were 92 without loss after ten overs and it was Rohit who had set the pace until then with a 32-ball fifty. Gill gradually took over, coming down the pitch to the spinners, hitting Roston Chase for two sixes in one over, and outpacing Rohit to reach his hundred off only 62 balls.
India crossed 200 in 21.1 overs, their quickest in ODIs, and always looked ahead of the eight-ball with the two opening batters going at it.
West Indies had one real chance to break the stand, and they shelled the catch, with Keacy Carty dropping Rohit off Vitel Lawes on 84. The 39-year-old opener went on to become the third Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to 12,000 ODI runs, and reached his 35th ODI ton off only 72 balls. Seales eventually trapped him lbw with a slower ball in the 27th over but by then the openers had added 255, three short of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly’s record opening stand for India, and set the side on track for a record chase.
Not slowing down, Gill and Kohli took 25 off Seales’s next over as India reached 300 in 29.1 overs, the fastest by any team in an ODI. The hosts were more than three overs quicker than South Africa in their 438 chase.
Kohli was out for 29 off 19 when he ramped Shamar Joseph to third man, with Sherfane Rutherford taking a sharp catch on the ropes. Ruturaj Gaikwad then rotated the strike while Gill carried on scoring, reaching 150 off 89 balls. His double hundred came off 117 balls, nine quicker than Ishan Kishan’s previous record.
Earlier, West Indies had built their total around two big partnerships. Keacy Carty, promoted to open in place of the injured Justin Greaves, was caught by Naman Dhir off Prasidh Krishna for 9 in the fifth over with the score on 37. That was the only wicket India took in the Powerplay as West Indies reached 96/1 after 10 overs. Campbell went on to a 68-ball hundred with nine fours and five sixes, adding 110 off 79 balls for the second wicket with Shai Hope before Gurnoor Brar provided the breakthrough and sent the centurion back.
Hope and Jangoo then put on a whirlwind stand of 182 off 131 balls, with India’s bowlers looking out of wits in unforgiving conditions. Hope, batting at No.3, anchored the innings with 104 off 94 while Jangoo scored much quicker at the other end, accelerating from 59 runs off 54 balls to reaching a century off 70 balls. The big partnership lasted until the final ball of the 40th over, when Kuldeep Yadav had Hope caught by Nabi at 329.
India then kept chipping away with wickets. Two deliveries after Hope fell, Brar had Sherfane Rutherford caught for a first-ball duck. Ravindra Jadeja then removed Jangoo two overs later while Kuldeep had Keemo Paul caught by Kohli soon after for his 200th wicket in ODIs, becoming the fastest Indian spinner to the milestone. Only Mohammed Shami has reached the mark in fewer matches for India.
Roston Chase’s 29 not out off 25 took West Indies to 405 but they couldn’t quite get the flourish towards the end, scoring only 76 runs in the last 10 overs.
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, Gurnoor Brar 2-96) lost to India 406/2 in 43.3 overs (Shubman Gill 223*, Rohit Sharma 101; Shamar Joseph 1-52, Jayden Seales 1-78) by 8 wickets.
