Mohammed Siraj holds his nerve to hand India 1-0 series lead

They don’t make thrillers like the one at Queen’s Park Oval anymore. Mohammed Siraj dished out a thrilling final over to seal the contest in India’s favor as the hosts were denied history in the dying embers of the contest.

There were multiple talking points from the series opener, the first of which would undoubtedly be Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form. Losing the toss, India was asked to bat first and it was a commanding start from the Men in Blue as Shubman Gill pressed his feet on the gas early while Dhawan started with wary aggression.

However, both the openers joined the party in making life a living nightmare for the hosts in no time. Gill would bring out exquisite strokes while Dhawan would deliver the heavy artillery with distinction.

Gill fell to an electric piece of effort in the field by the Caribbean skipper, Nicholas Pooran, against the run of play. However, that would do very little to dampen the Indian spirits as Shreyas Iyer would continue the rampage started by the Indian opening duo. The partnership between Dhawan and Iyer would take some time to get the wheels rolling but once things were in motion, it was absolute poetry from Team India.

The duo put up 94 runs for the second wicket before Dhawan fell for a well-played 97 while Shreyas Iyer would also depart in quick succession, thanks to another thunderous effort from Pooran.

Despite Deepak Hooda and Shardul Thakur’s late charge, India managed to get the momentum going only in patches, to propel India’s charge to 308.

The Indian bowling would be off to a fine start as Mohammed Siraj led the early charge, bagging the crucial scalp of Shai Hope. However, post the initial success, the hosts would turn things around in a convincing manner courtesy of a Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks special.

Shardul Thakur would be whacked around early in the innings but would return for a second spell to deal a double whammy to the Caribbean chase as he would bag the set Kyle Mayers and Brooks in quick succession, opening up the gates for India to claw their way back.

Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King would not the West Indian hopes of a remarkable win in the series opener snuff out so early as the duo would try and push forth the chase as much as they could. Despite the resilience, Team India managed to open up a significant gap between the runs required and the number of balls remaining.

Chahal would return for another crucial spell, bagging the all-important wickets of Rovman Powell for cheap and Brandon King later, to allow the visitors to rally themselves in the Caribbean wheelhouse where the equation was pretty much balanced.

Mohammed Siraj kept his calm to stave off the menacing duo of Akeal Hossain and Romario Shepherd who have previously delivered in the ODI spectrum with an electric final over that would leave the hosts 3 runs short of the Indian total, hitting his yorkers with incredible consistency.

Shikhar Dhawan was adjudged the Player of the match for his commanding display with the bat and leading India from the front with a string of astute maneuvers that would witness India walking out with the bragging rights in a nervy contest.