Tarouba: Team India outclassed West Indies by a whopping 200 runs in the third ODI to win the series 2-1 but the lingering questions on the team combination ahead of the World Cup remained in the horizon despite four half-centuries and a top notch bowling effort on Tuesday. Mukesh Kumar’s early breakthrough, taking three wickets conceding 30 runs while Thakur picked up four wickets for 37 runs. Kuldeep Yadav also cleared up two scalps and Jaydev Unadkat got one wicket.
Chasing a huge total of 352, West Indies lose their first wicket early as Mukesh Kumar dismissed Brandon King on a duck in the first over. Mukesh in his second spell cleared up another wicket, this time Kyle Mayers went back to the pavilion at 4. He was clobbered by Mukesh’s off swing as the ball hit the wicket after getting an outside edge. Mukesh again struck the wicket, he cleared up WI captain Shai Hope at 5. Shubman Gill took the catch at the slip. Suffering from Mukesh’s class swing, West Indies were 17/3 after 7 overs.
Unadkat also joined the party in the 11th over, He dismissed Keacy Carty at the first slip after Carty got an edge on the outside. Carty scored just 6 runs. Half of the West Indies batter went back to the pavilion in just 12 overs when Shardul Thakur cleared up Shimron Hetmyer at 4. West Indies continued to crumble as Shardul Thakur dismissed Romario Shepherd (8) on a bounce in the 14th over. Shepherd tried a pull shot but he found Unadkat in the deep backward square.
Hardik Pandya then introduced spinners in the 19th over and Kuldeep Yadav delivered a maiden over in his first over of the match. Yadav picked the wicket of Alick Athanaze, who was the only batter who scored double-digit runs, he was dismissed by Yadav’s googly at 32. Yadav did to take long to get his second wicket, this time he cleared up Yannic Cariah on an LWB. Gudakesh Motie and Alzarri Joseph bounced back as they added 50–run partnership in 47 balls for the 9th wicket. However, their partnership came to an end after Thakur dismissed Joseph at 26 with a bouncer. Ishan Kishan caught Joseph in a failed pull shot. Thakur picked the last wicket by clearing up Jayden Seales with an angled ball hitting the stumps. India won by a massive 200 runs in 35.3 overs.
Earlier, The outstanding opening partnership of 143 runs between Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill followed by quickfire knocks from Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya powered India to 351/5. Gill scored the highest for India with 85 off 92 while Kishan played a fine knock of 77 runs. Stand-in captain Hardik Pandya played a fiery unbeaten knock of 70 runs off 52 while Sanju Samson also smashed a vital 51 runs off 41 balls. Romario Shepherd scalped two wickets for West Indies, conceding 73 runs in his 10 overs spell.
Put to bat first, India got off to a fiery start as openers Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill kept piling boundaries. Gill took a liking to some of Alzarri Joseph’s bowling and found boundaries off the Caribbean pacer as he drove the ball through over mid-wicket, then pushed through the covers for four on the next delivery. In the 14th over of the game, Kishan slammed his half-century in 43 balls. Gill also brought up his fifty with a stunning four over the backward square leg in the 51 balls. With a hundred-run opening stand India’s openers kept the scoreboard ticking against West Indies.
Yannic Cariah gave his team a major breakthrough as he dismissed Ishan Kishan in the 20th over of the game and broke the 143-run opening partnership of Indian openers. Kishan’s outstanding innings of 77 runs came to an end as he was stumped by Shai Hope. After 21 overs India’s score read 145/1. The right-handed batter Ruturaj Gaikwad then came out to bat but the latter could not score big and went back to the pavilion after scoring just 8 runs. The right-handed batter Sanju Samson then came out to bat and got off to the mark by taking two runs and then slamming a beautiful six. The duo of Samson and Gill built a fine partnership as they kept slamming West Indies bowlers for big runs while gathering singles at regular intervals.
The Indian batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the West Indies bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer. Till the 27th over, Samson in red-hot form smashed three sixes in the 13 balls he faced. While slamming West Indie bowlers all around the ground Samson also brought up his maiden ODI half-century in 39 balls. After 2 fours and 4 sixes, the Samson show came to an abrupt end. Samson’s stay at the crease was cut short as he was dismissed by Romario Shepherd after scoring 51 runs off 41 balls. Stand-in captain Hardik Pandya then came out to bat and stitched a 21-run partnership with Gill before the opener lost his wicket to Gudakesh Motie after scoring 85.
Suryakumar Yadav then came out to bat. Pandya shifted the gears and slammed West Indies bowlers all around the ground at regular intervals. The duo of Pandya and Surykumar kept the scoreboard ticking for the Indian team. Suryakumar’s stay at the crease was cut short as he was removed by Romario Shepherd after scoring just 35 off 30. The left-handed batter Ravindra Jadeja then came out to bat. Pandya displayed great resilience and determination as he brought up his half-century in 45 balls. In the last over Pandya destroyed Shepherd and gathered 18 runs with the help of two sixes and one four, taking his team’s total to 351/5 in 50 overs.
Brief score: India 351/5 (Shubman Gill 85, Ishan Kishan 77; Romario Shepherd 2-73) vs West Indies 151 (Gudakesh Motie 39*, Alick Athanaze 32, Shardul Thakur 4-37).
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