Hope Springs Eternal: Unbeaten 162 Guides Windies to Epic Victory

West Indies pulled off a record-breaking victory, successfully chasing down a massive target of 352 runs to defeat India by 5 wickets. Captain Shai Hope produced a masterclass performance, remaining undefeated on 162* after keeping wickets for the entire 50 overs.

1st Innings (India): India posted a daunting total of 351 runs on the board, driven by strong top-order contributions. Early Breakthrough: Jayden Seales produced an early moment of magic by bowling Virat Kohli for a golden duck on his very first delivery. The Chase: Facing a mountain of runs, West Indies built their pursuit around skipper Shai Hope's composure and precise pacing.

The Finish: Hope anchored the middle and late overs, unleashing aggressive strokes in the closing overs to cross the finish line with 5 wickets in hand.

Jayden Seales, West Indies' best bowler all series, finally got the wickets to show for his work, two of them in two successive legal deliveries, and then Gaikwad with a brutal delivery with the old ball. After Shubman Gill gloved him down leg and Virat Kohli missed a straight ball for a golden duck, India had to endure their longest wait for a first boundary in four years. However, West Indies lent them a helping hand with at least six dropped catches - four of them from Gaikwad, some ordinary ground fielding and inconsistent bowling.

The second half of the innings, though, belonged to the man Brar kept giving the strike to. He manipulated the bowling and the fields expertly to keep accelerating through the innings. He didn't overtly farm the strike, but never looked in a hurry to take the extra run that might put him off strike. The ball striking was so efficient; all it was for bowlers to miss their yorkers by inches. Tardy over rate gave Rahul the advantage of having an extra fielder inside the circle for the last three overs of the innings, which he made excruciatingly long for West Indies as India took 50 off them.

Having needed only four batters in the first two matches, India were forced to dig deep when reduced to 4 for 2 in New Chandigarh, but Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul responded with aplomb to take them to 351 for 7.

Debutant Kamboj doesn't have big scores in domestic cricket, but that is not what teams look for in their No. 8. They want their No. 8 to be able to hit sixes, and Kamboj did just that when Gudakesh Motie dropped short twice in the 44th over. After Kamboj got out, Brar did his job of turning the strike over competently.