We had full confidence of defending, the way Mohammed Siraj was bowling his yorkers: Yuzvendra Chahal

India’s premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal revealed that the whole team was quite confident of pulling off a win in the final over against West Indies in the first ODI. Romario Shepherd and Akeal Hossein provided a real scare to the Indian bowlers in the final overs and the former in particular used his big levers to his liking. The all-rounder almost pulled off a victory with an unbeaten 25-ball 39, which included three fours and two sixes, but the hosts eventually fell short by just three runs.

Mohammed Siraj had to defend 15 off the last over, and he nailed his yorkers to perfection. The right-arm seamer did stray away from the line with a wide delivery that looked like going into the boundary. However, Sanju Samson dived to the full length and managed to cut down the byes which helped India massively. With five needed off the last ball, Shepherd could manage just one, as India ended up taking a 1-0 lead in the series.

One hit could have changed the match: Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal mentioned that defending 15 runs looked quite possible with the way Siraj was executing the yorkers and noted that the confidence grew higher as Siraj nailed his yorkers in the previous overs as well. He highlighted the pressure factor during the final overs and noted that even one hit could have changed the game. He added that Samson’s magnificent stop had increased the confidence of a victory.

“We had full confidence (of a win). The way Siraj was bowling his yorkers, that we could defend 15 runs in the over. It was because a couple of overs earlier, I think he missed just one or two yorkers. But there is always a bit of pressure, especially the way they were batting as one hit could have changed the match. When Sanju (Samson) made that stop off the wide, our confidence increased further,” Chahal told in the post-match press conference.

The second ODI between West Indies and India is scheduled to take place on the 24th of July at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.