India vs West Indies | Credit to the Windies for showing great fight, says Virat Kohli

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk,SportsCafe Editor

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Virat Kohli admitted that his side were lucky to escape with a tie after the West Indies led by Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmeyer put up a strong fight in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam. The Indian captain crossed the landmark of 10,000 ODI runs as he scored a brilliant 157* off 129 deliveries.

India were held to a surprise draw against West Indies in the second ODI at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. A brilliant fightback from Shai Hope (123*) and Shimron Hetmeyer (94), ensured that the visitors kept their hopes alive in the ongoing ODI series against Virat Kohli & Co. This was India’s second tied ODI in one month, having previously tied the ODI against Afghanistan earlier during the Asia Cup.

“It was a great game of cricket. Credit to the Windies, they showed great fight. Especially in the second innings, after they were three down, Hetmyer and Hope stuck it out. They took on us and didn’t give us any chance whatsoever.

“The pitch was drastically different in the second innings. We were looking at 275-280 only, but I got going and we got those extra runs. We had a challenge in front of us today and luckily we got away with a tie and we’ll take that at the end of the day,”  Kohli told reporters after he was adjudged Man of the Match for his 129-ball 157-run unbeaten innings.

Meanwhile, opposition skipper, Jason Holder, was all praise for his side’s effort and heaped praise on the duo of Hope and Hetmeyer. The all-rounder also congratulated Kohli for crossing the milestone of 10,000 runs.

“We said at the beginning of the innings that one of our top four had to go on and bat till the end. Good on Shai to do that. India got a par score. Before coming here, we knew we should be hitting that mark over and over. I thought our bowlers tried. But we were a bit sloppy in the field.”

“Really good game of cricket. Two outstanding knocks, Virat played a brilliant knock and congrats to him on the milestone. Shai Hope though, young player, scoring a century like that in a high-pressure game.

“Hetty was upset that he got out in a crucial stage and we had a very good chance and it was very good to see Shai bat till the end. I thought it was around par, and it’s very good to see that we had two consistent games in a row. Obviously, we could have picked a few more wickets in the middle overs,” Holder said in the post-match interview.

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