Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli scored breathtaking half-centuries to help India post a mammoth 240 for 3 followed by a disciplined effort with the ball and on the field as the host stroll to victory by 67 runs in the third T20I against West Indies at the Wankhede stadium and take the series 2-1 on Wednesday (December 11).
Considering the dew factor and previous numbers in favour of the chasing side in T20s in Mumbai Windies skipper Kieron Pollard opted to bowl in this series-decider. But after a quiet opening over from Sheldon Cottrell, openers Rohit and Rahul launched their assault. By the end of the Powerplay they had taken the score to 72/0 which laid the foundation of this victory for India.
The home team knew that in order to defend a total against the power-packed Windies batting line-up, 200 is par score at Wankhede. So the openers continued their onslaught even in the non-powerplay overs. There was a flurry of boundaries and sixes as the West Indies bowlers seemed completely clueless in the middle. Finally when Kesrick Williams got rid of Rohit after a 34-ball 71 in the 12th over, India already had 134 on the board.
Rishabh Pant followed in the next over, caught in the deep for a second-ball duck off Pollard, bringing Kohli to the crease. By that time West Indies had already been jolted by Evin Lewis’ unfortunate knee injury on the field. His foot stuck in the turf while stopping a ball and the opening batsman was taken to hospital for a scan on his left knee. Lewis took no further part in the match.
The Indian skipper piled on their misery. He took 22 off Jason Holder’s final over to leave him with figures of 0/54. Williams again put the brakes on with variations, conceding only three runs from his third over, but when Pollard returned to bowl the penultimate over he was taken apart by Kohli, getting 27 runs off his final six deliveries.
Rahul (91) was unfortunate miss out on his ton by nine runs as Cottrell (1 for 40) got his wicket in the final over of the innings. He bowled brilliantly in that over but a last-ball six by Kohli took the score 240 and he himself finished with an unbeaten 29-ball 70. A total of 16 sixes were hit in that Indian innings and the skipper got seven of those.
The West Indian reply got off to a bad start as Brandon King, Lendl Simmons, and Nicholas Pooran were dismissed in consecutive overs to leave the score 19/3 after four. Shimron Hetmyer then put up some resistance with Pollard with a 74-run stand.
With the asking rate nearing 14 runs per over, Hetmyer launched the counterattack in the fifth over Pollard then joined in, hitting a six of his own off Bhuvneshwar Kumar before the pair picked two boundaries each from Shivam Dube’s first over to take them to 60/3 after seven overs.
However, soon the comeback man Kuldeep Yadav’ second over brought the much-needed breakthrough for India as Hetmyer (41) failed to fully connect with a full toss and found Rahul at long-on, but not before he had struck another pair of sixes in the first two balls of the over. Pollard carried on, but as the required rate rose towards 20, Jason Holder departed, becoming the left-arm spinner’s second scalp. Pollard himself was then caught on the fence off Bhuvneshwar for a career-best 68 in the 15th over.
From there it was just formalities left for the home team.
Deepak Chahar was the pick among the Indian bowlers, returning 2/20 from his four, as West Indies eventually finished on 173/8.
Brief scores:
India 240 for 3 in 20 overs (Rahul 91, Rohit 71, Kohli 70; Pollard 1 for 33, Williams 1 for 37)
beat
West Indies 173 for 8 (Pollard 68, Hetmyer 41; Chahar 2 for 20; Shami 2 for 25) by 67 runs.
Player of the Match: KL Rahul
Player of the series: Virat Kohli