Darren Sammy produced a game-changing unbeaten 63 under pressure as West Indies pulled off a thrilling two-wicket win in the second cricket One-dayer against India to level the three-match series 1-1, here today.
India had put on a challenging 288 for seven when Virat Kohli scored 99 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni stroked his way to an unbeaten 51 after being invited to bat on a slow track at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
Kieran Powell (59) and Darren Bravo (50) came up with a 100-run partnership to help West Indies recover from 23 for 2 before Sammy led the chase with an unbeaten 63 from 45 balls studded with four fours and an equal number of sixes.
West Indies lost wickets in a heap towards the end and huffed and puffed to win with three balls to spare as Indian bowlers struggled to grip the ball due to dew factor.
Sammy joined Lendl Simmon (62) when West Indies had lost five wickets for 187 runs and they created a match-winning crucial 82-run partnership which helped the Caribbean side score its first win since their arrival to India.
They had lost the Test series 0-2 but now have given themselves a chance to take the ODI series. The two teams will travel to Kanpur for the series-deciding third match on Wednesday.
For India, Kohli did a tremendous job before falling victim to a rash pull and missing out on a century. Kohli had to step in early after fall of Rohit Sharma in the fifth over and he batted sensibly, not going for the cross batted shots, even as the other Indians fell trying to speed up the run-rate.
Kohli's knock came off 100 balls with nine boundaries.
Dhoni once again stood to the task with his 50th ODI half-century, to give India a decent total to defend. He slammed three sixes and four boundaries in his 40-ball knock in an entertaining 47-run seventh wicket partnership with R Ashwin.
