West Indies vs India 2nd ODI Full Commentary

We are back for the chase! The West Indies players are taking up their respective field positions. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are the two openers for India, and they need to give a good start to the hosts. Jayden Seales will start proceedings with the ball. Here we go...

... THE RUN CHASE ...

A mountain to climb - Roston Chase remained unbeaten on 29 off 25 balls, while Shamar Joseph finished 14 not out from just eight deliveries, launching a six off the very first ball he faced. At 405/7, West Indies have set India a daunting target, with the visitors needing to break their own highest successful ODI chase of 360 against Australia in Jaipur in 2013. Virat Kohli's record at this venue offers some encouragement, with the last two times he played an ODI in Guwahati bringing centuries, including his hundred in the previous game. But this is a chase he cannot be expected to pull off alone, with India needing a collective effort to create a new benchmark. Join us in a bit for the second essay.

Catching up with one of the three centurions - On being part of a record-breaking innings, Amir Jangoo calls it an amazing feeling, crediting the team's clarity in going out with a fixed plan today. He points to lessons learned from the mistakes of the first game and feels those were executed well this time around. He is quick to credit John Campbell for the amazing start and Shai Hope for carrying the innings through, keeping his own role simple, just going out and execute with the bat. On batting at number four today, Jangoo explains he learned only on the day that everyone was shuffling up a spot, which put him in at number four. He says his approach was always about reading the situation rather than a fixed position, and takes pride in preparing for different scenarios so he can execute whenever called upon. That preparation, he feels, paid off today. On his journey in international cricket so far, Jangoo puts it down to hard work, along with plenty of lessons and failures along the way. He shares that nine years of first-class cricket gave him the foundation needed before stepping into the international game. Adds that his focus now is on learning as fast as possible and enjoying this level, playing with freedom rather than fear. On facing Kuldeep Yadav, Jangoo reveals there were detailed team discussions around handling Kuldeep, given his own reputation as a strong player of spin. Adds that the team backs him to take on the spinners and dominate when the chance arrives, and today's plan was to stay positive against Kuldeep specifically. He credits the good pitch as well, saying the idea was to play as straight as possible, rotate the strike, and pick out the boundary when the opportunity presented itself.

India run out of answers - India's bowling resources were stretched, with Prasidh Krishna leaving the field after five overs and Naman Dhir able to bowl only 6.1 overs after twisting his ankle. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja both claimed two wickets and were economical as well, with Kuldeep also reaching 200 ODI wickets, but West Indies kept the runs flowing despite losing wickets regularly towards the end. Gurnoor Brar finished with 2/96, although he conceded just seven in the final over, with Auqib Nabi giving away 5 in the penultimate over as the visitors managed to limit the damage slightly.

Campbell, Hope and Jangoo lead the charge - John Campbell set the tone with a blistering 101 off just 66 balls, reaching his century from 65 deliveries. Shai Hope then followed with 104 off 90, despite being given two lives early in his innings, before Amir Jangoo took over with a superb 114 off 77. Hope and Jangoo added 182 for the third wicket, turning a strong start into a huge total and putting West Indies firmly in control.

A record-breaking effort - West Indies have produced a sensational batting display, finishing on a record 405/7 after 50 overs. They recovered brilliantly from the early loss of Kacey Carty, with three batters going on to score hundreds in the same ODI innings for the first time in their history. The hosts now face a chase that will require India to rewrite their own ODI record.

Gurnoor Brar will bowl the final over. Also, India have been handed a penalty for slow over rate, having to place one extra fielder inside the circle.

Will the extra ball cost Auqib Nabi?

Shamar Joseph walks out to bat next.

Over and out from Guwahati - And... breathe. India have clinched the series 2-0 with still a game to go. Both teams will now travel to New Chandigarh for the 3rd and final ODI. India will aim for a series sweep and West Indies would be eager to dust this off and come back stronger to salvage pride. It will be played on Saturday, 3rd October, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 8.30 am GMT (2 pm IST). But as usual, our buildup begins in advance. So do tune in for that as well. But for now, you can feel free to switch tabs and get all the updates from the ongoing third ODI between South Africa and Australia in Potchefstroom. Cheers!

An epic in glittering gold - 812 runs scored across both innings, including four centurions and one double centurion, taking batting to a whole different galactic level. Well over a hundred boundaries were smashed along the way, with no corner of the park left untouched. We have just witnessed one of the most historic cricket matches ever played. Guwahati has never been kind to West Indies. Back in 2018, they failed to defend 322 here, blown away by a magnanimous 246-run partnership from Ro-Ko. Tonight, they were taken apart while defending 405, blown away by Gill's brilliance. So where do they go from here, and what more could they really have done? There is no simple answer, but somewhere in the middle of it all. They will need to find far greater intensity when it comes to picking up wickets and containing run flow with the ball. With the bat, though, West Indies have developed a genuinely strong crop of players stepping up alongside captain Shai Hope. Campbell and Jangoo, in particular, have done enough to cement their place in this ODI setup, and more importantly, neither is a one-dimensional player. They may have lost the series, but these positives will count for a lot as they head into the World Cup qualifiers next year.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Without a doubt, it's Shubman Gill, the Indian captain, who takes home the award for his record-breaking and historic 223* (133). Gill says that every part of his body is cramping up right now. Says that after fielding for 13 overs in the afternoon, it felt like being on the field for 20-25 overs, the way West Indies were batting. Gill says chasing 400 was never going to be easy, regardless of the pitch or conditions, and he was proud of the team's effort to stay in the contest and finish unbeaten. He explains that he broke the chase into smaller targets, aiming for 75-80 runs in the Powerplay without losing a wicket and around 200-210 by the 25-over mark. They were ahead of that target at 230-240, which he felt shifted the pressure back onto West Indies. Gill admits they did not bowl as well as they would have liked during the Powerplay, much like in the first game, allowing West Indies to bat freely. At one stage, he felt the Windies could have reached 420-430, so restricting them by 20-30 runs at the back end was a bonus. Looking ahead to the next game, Gill says India may look to give opportunities to players who have not featured yet and will assess which combination suits them best.

The captain of West Indies - On his assessment of this game, Shai Hope giggles a bit and then says there are a lot of positives to take from this game, to be very honest. He highlights the batting first, pointing out that the side has now put up competitive totals consistently. On the bowling, he acknowledges the margin for error shrinks to almost nothing against some of the greatest batters in the world, and giving them any kind of start makes life extremely difficult. Still, he is fair in giving credit where it is 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. On losing wickets in quick succession, like the previous ODI, Hope says it was not quite the same story today. He credits the side for laying down the foundation well, 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 identifies the spinners as the main threat through the middle phase, which made building that platform all the more important. On introducing Vitel Lawes late in the innings, Hope puts it down to a bit of both. He shares that he did not want to hand the youngster the hardest overs to bowl, especially on his first tour to India. The priority, he says, was making Lawes feel as confident as possible given the occasion. He is pleased to see someone so young step up and do the job for the team, bowling really well in the process. While there is plenty still to learn, Hope is confident the youngster will only keep getting better from here.

... The post-match Presentation ...

In conversation with one of the five centurions - Rohit Sharma says that the celebration after getting to the hundred was for himself, and some things are not meant to be shared. Rohit mentions the good batting conditions allowed him and Shubman Gill to focus on building a big partnership rather than worrying about the scoreboard. He feels Gill was in complete control throughout his innings and was pleased to see him remain unbeaten at the end. Rohit shares that opening the innings after spending 50 overs in the field in hot and humid conditions was challenging, but he relied on his experience to maintain his concentration and not give his wicket away. He says they knew they needed runs from the top order and believes their 250-plus opening partnership effectively sealed the game, allowing them to finish on a high. Rohit Sharma says Ravindra Jadeja was curious about the celebration he performed after reaching his century. He told him he would explain it in the dressing room, adding that the celebration was something personal to him. He reveals that Jadeja suggested an elaborate celebration involving a slide and a jump, but after spending 50 overs in the field and then batting for around 25-30 overs, Rohit joked that he was never going to attempt it.

A batting onslaught by the Men in Maroon - On a placid surface, the Indian bowlers were taken apart by a rampant West Indies top order, with three of their top four batters raising hundreds. Campbell laid the platform, unleashing his full repertoire of shots, before Hope and 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 drops, 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. India's attack was left short-handed as well, with Krishna and Dhir both forced off the field through injury. Jadeja, Kuldeep and Brar picked up two apiece, though the damage was already done by then, while Auqib Nabi endured a forgettable debut with the ball, going wicketless and leaking runs freely.

Plans fell flat - Shai Hope had said after the previous game that West Indies were 60 to 80 runs short of truly testing the Indian batting lineup. This time, they piled up a mammoth 405, a total that should have been mathematically impossible to overhaul, until this evening proved otherwise. For the second game running, though, they have 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, and no one remotely looked threatening enough to even create a half chance. Seales and the young 19-year-old Lawes did show flashes of brilliance, but the tourists failed to put together a complete bowling performance.

An Everest scaled - A 92-run powerplay in this mammoth chase set the tone early, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill taking the bowlers apart from the outset, with both Indian openers eventually converting those starts into centuries. In fairness, though, the bowling from the West Indies pacers, barring Seales, was far too leaky to hold India back. Rohit eventually fell for 101, and the likes of Kohli and Gaikwad chipped in with valuable runs of their own, Gaikwad remaining unbeaten on 31, a timely reminder to the selectors that he is there if needed. But the evening belonged to Shubman Gill in every sense. He took the responsibility upon himself and simply went hell for leather, refusing to let the bowlers settle for even an over, and turned what was already a record chase into a personal coronation.

The crowning of a Prince - If you tuned in from the very first ball today, you have just witnessed batsmanship in its purest form. Everything was on show, from raw power-hitting to textbook cricket, a full range unleashed by the batters of both sides throughout the day. But it is the Indian captain who makes the headlines, standing at the very peak of his powers as he coasts India home to a historic win. This is India's highest successful run chase in the history of ODIs. And they do it, making an absolute mockery of 406, chasing it down with 39 balls remaining. Shubman Gill stands out as the brightest star of Indian cricket's future, and his era begins right here. His appetite for runs was simply ridiculous to watch. Run after run, boundary after boundary, with every shot somehow topping the previous one. He has strolled past so many records by becoming the fastest batter to score an ODI double century.

A story for the ages - This is a chase that will be told and retold for years to come. The ones young enough to have watched it live will grow up narrating it to their own children one day, painting the picture of a night when 406 looked like nothing at all. Those who have followed this game longer, who remember an era when chasing 250 felt like a mountain, will struggle to place this innings anywhere close to the cricket they grew up on. Somewhere in between sit those who will simply call it one of the greatest chases in cricket they have ever witnessed, full stop, no comparisons needed.

India need just 6 runs to win. Safe to say, this will be the final over of this historic ODI.