Thanks to batting and bowling effort, India crushed West Indies by 67 runs in the 3rd and deciding T20I match played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday. After being invited to bat, Rohit, KL and Virat Kohli knocks helped India post a massive total, defended the target with ease.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and decided to field first. It was a great start by the KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma who put consistent pressure on the visitors bowlers right from word go . Rohit was severe on the spinners making the batting look easy on a placid batting pitch. Rahul also looked in great touch and raced along. At the end of six overs, India raced to 72 for 0.
After the power play overs, Rohit and Rahul continued to smash the West Indies bowlers with ease. Rohit reached his fifty off just 23 balls with a six. Rahul made batting look easy with great stroke play to reach his half-century off 29 balls. Kesrick Williams provided the relief for West Indies by dismissing Rohit Sharma for a brilliant 34 balls 71 runs. Rohit and Rahul added 135 runs for the opening wicket. Rishabh Pant was promoted at number 3 and was dismissed for 0 by Kieron Pollard.
The Indian captain came to the crease and took few balls to settle before taking on the West Indies bowlers. Kohli took 21 runs from Jason Holder bowling in the 15th over. Rahul also showed great hitting power which put consistent pressure on West Indies bowling. In the 19th over, Kohli and Rahul smashed 27 runs off Pollard’s bowling. During that over, Kohli reached his fifty off just 21 balls.
Sheldon Cottrell dismissed KL Rahul for a brilliant 91 off 56 balls. Rahul and Kohli added 95 runs for the 3rd wicket. Kohli hit a six off the last ball to remain not out on 70 off just 29 balls. India posted a massive total of 240 for 3 in 20 overs.
Chasing a massive total of 241 runs to win, Brandon King, Lendl Simmons and Nicolas Pooran were dismissed in quick succession to leave West Indies in big trouble 17 for 3. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the breakthrough getting King for 5. Mohammed Shami who was bought into the squad dismissed the dangerous Lendl Simmons. Nicolas Pooran was brilliantly caught by Shivam Dube to put West Indies team under pressure. At the end of six overs, West Indies were struggling at 41 for 3.
After the power play overs, Shimron Hetymer and Kieron Pollard took on Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav with big hits. Kuldeep got the breakthrough dismissing Hetymer for 24 balls 41. Hetymer and Pollard added 74 runs for the 4th wicket. The left arm chinamen bowler struck again by dismissing Jason Holder cheaply.
Kieron Pollard played some big shots and did not give strike to Hayden Walsh Jr. Pollard reached his fifty off just 33 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Pollard ending West Indies hopes of winning the match. It was one-way traffic as India restricted West Indies to 173 for 8 in 20 overs. India won the match by 67 runs to win the series 2-1.
India 240 for 3 in 20 overs ( KL Rahul 91, Rohit Sharma 71, Kohli 70*, Kesrick Williams 1/37) beat West Indies 173 for 8 in 20 overs ( Pollard 68, Hetymer 41, Deepak Chahar 2/20, Mohammed Shami 2/25) by 67 runs.
