GEORGETOWN: Surykumar Yadav’s vintage performance with bat and Tilak Varma’s unbridled 49* kept India in the thick of the action as the Men in Blue clinched victory in the third ODI by 7 wickets at the Providence Stadium on Tuesday.
This was the first victory for India in the five match T20I series which West Indies now lead 2-1.
Surya’s blistering 83 off 44 balls laid the foundation for India’s chase of 160, while India skipper Hardik Pandya added the icing on the cake by finishing the game in style with a maximum.
While chasing a target of 160, the hosts dealt India a major blow as debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal was removed from the pitch with a score of 1(2) by Obed McCoy. A miscue from Jaiswal launched the ball high in the air which landed straight into the hands of Alzarri Joseph at mid-on.
Struggling Shubman Gill, who is yearning hard to find his form failed once again to deliver with his bat in unfamiliar conditions. The fifth over ensured Gill’s struggle with the bat continued. Alzarri Joseph got better of Gill with a short length delivery. A loud groan from Gill told the entire story.
Surya and Tilak drove India’s innings from that point and stitched up an 87-run stand. Surya failed to see off the game for the visitors but skipper Hardik’s short cameo brought the series to 2-1.
Earlier in the innings, Kuldeep bagged three wickets while Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar scalped one wicket each. For West Indies, Brandon King scored the highest with 42 off 42 deliveries while Rovman Powell played a crucial knock of unbeaten 40 runs in 19 balls.
Opting to bat first, West Indies got off to a fine start as their openers Kyle Mayers and Brandon King kept piling runs at regular intervals against Indian bowlers.
However, Axar Patel’s spin proved to be too good for Mayers as the batter was dismissed for 25 runs in the 8th over of the game. The right-handed batter Johnson Charles then came out to bat.
Kuldeep Yadav then started to spin his web around the West Indies batter as he dismissed Charles for 14 runs. The left-handed batter Nicholas Pooran then came out to bat at the crease.
Pooran in blazing form hammered Kuldeep for 13 runs with the help of four and six runs.
Kuldeep in the 15th over of the game struck twice to dismiss Pooran and well-set batter Brandon King. Pooran went back to the pavilion after scoring 20 while King was dismissed after scoring 42 runs.
Mukesh Kumar in the 18th over bagged the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer for 9 runs. In the 19th over of the game, Rovman Powell opened his hands and smoked Arshdeep Singh for 17 runs single-headedly with the help of two huge sixes.
In the last over, Powell smashed a six off Mukesh’s over and helped his team post a competitive score of 159/5 on board.
Brief score: West Indies 159/5 (Brandon King 42, Rovman Powell 40*; Kuldeep Yadav 3-28. vs India 164/3 (Suryakumar Yadav 83, Tilak Varma 49* and Alzarri Joseph 2-25). (ANI)