We had full faith in Siraj, says Yuzvendra Chahal

Pacer Mohd Siraj (centre) is hugged by teammates after India beat West Indies in the first ODI at Trinidad on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Shikhar Dhawan made a well-crafted 97 while Shubmam Gill made a classy 64 in his ODI comeback before India held their nerve to pull off a three-run win over the West Indies in the series opener here.

Openers Dhawan (97 off 99 balls) and Gill (64 off 53) shared a 119-run stand before the West Indies fought back to restrict India to 308 for seven.

The West Indies needed 15 off the final over for a record chase at Queens Park Oval but Mohammed Siraj was able to stop a rampaging Romario Shepherd (38 not out off 25).

"We had full faith in Siraj and that we can [even] defend five runs in the last over as he was bowling his yorkers very well. He missed hardly one or two yorkers earlier.
"But yes, a little bit of pressure is always there, given the way they were batting. Sanju [Samson] stopped a certain boundary off a wide, and that raised our confidence," said leggie Yuzvendra Chahal during the post-match press conference.

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At the top of order, Kyle Mayers (75 off 68) and Shamarh Brooks (46 off 61) raised West Indies' hopes with a 117-run stand for the second wicket before Brandon King (54 off 66) took the game deep.

In the end, the West Indies fell short and ended at 305 for six. Shardul Thakur had struck twice earlier in the chase to bring back India into the game as he removed the set duo of Mayers and Brooks.

The hosts needed 60 off the last 90 balls and the 56-run stand between King and Akeal Hosein (32 not out off 32) kept India on the edge. However, Chahal came up with a timely breakthrough to make the job tougher for the West Indies. The home team were kept in the chase by Shephered and Hosein whose valiant partnership in vain.

Brief scores
India 308-7 (S Dhawan 97, S Gill 64, S Iyer 54; G Motie 2-54, A Joseph 2-61) beat West Indies 305-6 (K Mayers 75, B King 54; M Siraj 2-56, S Thakur 2-54, Y Chahal 2-58) by three runs

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