The Rohit Sharma-led side made a merry of the visiting side to win the third ODI and clean sweep the series.
Follow Us
Rohit Sharma-led India made merry of the West Indies side to bundle them out for 169 runs in the third and final ODI at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday to register a thumping 96-run win, sweeping the series 3-0. Chasing a challenging target of 266 runs, the visitors lost their opener Shai Hope (5) in the fourth over as even his opening partner Brandon King (14) and incoming batsmen Darren Bravo (20) and Sharmah Brooks (0) failed to show resilience. Stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran (34), then, took on the challenge and played an important cameo knock but failed to convert it into a match-winning knock. He smashed two boundaries and one hit over the fence in his 39-ball innings under pressure.
However, following his dismissal, wickets — Jason Holder (6), Fabian Allen (0) — fell in a flurry but lower-order batter Odean Smith (36) made the hosts toil hard for wickets.
Smith stepped into bat when the visitors were reeling at 82/7. But he did well to turn the tables on the opposition in his presence of 18 balls. Smith targeted wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who made a comeback to the Indian side, for consecutive sixes in an over. He also looked to hit the odd deliveries to the fence, unperturbed by the wickets in hand, and smashed three boundaries and as many sixes.
Following his dismissal, Alzarri Joseph (29) and Hayden Walsh (13) played cameo knocks, but failed to show resilience against the formidable India bowling.
Yadav, who played his first ODI on return since the Sri Lanka tour in July 2021, picked up two wickets. He got the important wickets of Pooran and Allen but leaked runs at an economy rate near to 8.
His fellow fast bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Mohamed Siraj picked up three wickets each while Deepak Chahar scalped two wickets.
Earlier, opting to bat, India disappointed as they lost their top order batters Rohit Sharma (13), Shikhar Dhawan (10) and Virat Kohli (0) in quick succession.
However, Shreyas Iyer (80) and Rishabh Pant (56), notched up brilliant half-centuries to rescue the sinking ship from 42/3 to 152/4 to put the hosts in the driver’s seat. The duo forged a 110-run stand before the wicket-keeper batter was sent packing. The Mumbai-batter hit nine boundaries in his 111-ball knock while his Delhi compatriot smashed six boundaries and one hit over the fence in his 54-ball innings.
Later, Suryakumar Yadav (6) failed to get going with the bat, but Washington Sundar (33) and Deepak Chahar (38) contributed with important cameos.
Following their dismissals, tailender Kuldeep Yadav (5), Mohamed Siraj (4) and Prasidh Krishna (0 not out), failed to add to the tally much.
All-rounder Holder was the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies as he returned figures of 4/34.
READ MORE: Josh Hazlewood 4/12, Ben McDermott 53 Helps Australia Continue T20I Winning Streak vs Sri Lanka
