- India won comfortably with 2.1 overs remaining to keep the series alive at 2-1, after losing the first two games.
- Batting first West Indies posted 159/5, powered by a blistering 40 off 19 balls. Kuldeep took three wickets to thwart the West Indian charge.
- In reply, Suryakumar Yadav’s 83 off 44 balls and Tilak’s 3rd brilliant knock on the trot took India to a comfortable win
West Indies player ratings
Rovman Powell 9/10: The West Indian captain was in a murderous mood as he smashed 40 off just 19 deliveries. Powell was particularly brutal on Arshdeep Singh, as he smashed him for 2 sixes in an over which went for 17 runs. He batted on a different gear compared to almost every other WI batters, all of whom will regret that they couldn’t replicate their skipper’s example.
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Alzari Joseph 8/10: Amidst the carnage SKY and Tilak caused, Joseph was the one bowler who managed to fight against the tide. He got Shubman Gill in the 5th over to give West Indies hope and finished with figures of 2 for 25. Had he got some support from the other end, the game could have had a very different look.
Nicholas Pooran 7/10: Pooran started from where he left off in the last game and threatened to take the game away from India again. He hit two 4s and a six and was looking ominous until Kuldeep got rid of him by deceiving him in the flight. If he continued in his merry way, the WI scorecard would have a very different reading.
Kyle Mayers 6/10: Very much like the previous game, Mayers started brightly but couldn’t convert it into a big innings. He took 11 runs of the Chahal over and got WI going after they had a quiet start. He failed to keep going though, as Axar Patel got him out in the 7th over.
Roston Chase 6/10: Even though he didn’t get a wicket, the off-spinner bowled tight lines and lengths amidst the carnage SKY and Tilak were causing. West Indies would have wanted him to get a wicket though, especially with the left-hander operating.
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Brandon King 5/10: While the scorecard will show him to be WI’s top scorer, he is partly to blame for their failure to get a big score. The CPL hero could never get going, and was uprooted by Kuldeep Yadav.
Akeal Hossain 5/10: He bowled well to be fair, but never actually threatened as SKY and Tilak navigated him expertly to attack the other bowlers. He finished with figures of none for 31 and WI would have expected more from last game’s hero.
Obed McCoy 3/10: He got the wicket of Jaiswal early on but from there on the Indian batters smashed him out of the attack, as he could only bowl 2 overs. He ended up going for 16 runs per over and was the symbol of WI surrender.
Shimron Hetmyer 3/10: Hetmyer again failed to fire in WI hour off need, scoring just 9 off 8 balls when his team needed him to go ballistic at the death. His failure to contribute meant WI ended up quite a few runs short.
Johnson Charles 3/10: Charles struck a boundary and a six yet could score only 12 off 14 deliveries. The bunch of dot balls he played halted the momentum and WI couldn’t recover from that even after the Powell storm.
Romario Shepherd 2/10: A failure to fire with the bat and inability to contain the Indian assault, Shepherd had a nightmare of a game. He scored just 2 off 5 when a few lusty blows could have given WI a fighting total. With the ball he was swatted away, conceding 36 off 3 overs.
India player ratings
Suryakumar Yadav (Player of the Match) 10/10: The world no.1 showed his mettle as the WI were at the receiving end of yet another devastating knock that reminded everyone why he is the best in the world in this format. Walking in the very first over, he started to fire right from the word go, as he smashed a four and a six in the first two balls he faced. That set the tone for his 44 ball 83 where he smashed WI bowlers, literally to all parts of the ground in his quintessential style. When he got out in the 13th over, the game was virtually done and dusted.
Tilak Varma 9/10: The youngster continued his metronomic rise as he played a 3rd brilliant innings on the bounce. He largely played second fiddle to the rampant world no.1, but the calmness in his 49 off 37 was crucial to the partnership. After SKY got out he nervelessly steered India to the win along with captain Panday, even though he couldn’t get to the half century landmark himself.
Kuldeep Yadav 9/10: Got the big wickets of Brandon King and an ominous looking Nicholas Pooran to stop WI from getting a mammoth total. His delivery to get rid of Pooran was a beauty of thinking and execution just when the MotM from the last game was threatening to pull off a repeat of the previous T20I.
Hardik Pandya 8/10: It was another captain’s performance from India’s premier all-rounder, as Pandya contributed both with the bat and the ball. He bowled economically in crucial phases when the WI were looking to run away. Then with the bat he came out and eased any nerves after SKY got out and took India home.
Axar Patel 8/10: It was a clinical bowling performance from the left-arm spinner, finishing with an economy of just 6 runs per over. He also took the vital wicket of the explosive Kyle Mayers, further questioning Pandya’s decision to not use him in the previous T20I.
Yuzvendra Chahal 5/10: Last match's game changer was not effective in this game, as the WI batter looked to attack him right from the start. Although he did create a few close calls, both Mayers and King went after him and he looked venomless in general.
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Mukesh Kumar 5/10: He didn’t bowl particularly badly as he got the vital wicket of Shimron Hetmyer, but a few bad balls to Powell and the WI captain took full advantage. He will need to have more skills in his arsenal to restrict high quality power-hitters.
Arshdeep Singh 4/10: Another bowler who had decent figures until he was in the firing line of Powell. The muscular man took 17 runs of Arshdeep’s third over, in the process of getting his team to a decent looking score.
Yashasvi Jaiswal 3/10: The RR opener didn’t have a memorable debut as he got out in the 4th ball of the very first over. He will have better days and there really isn’t much to read into this.
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Shubman Gill 2/10: The Indian opener struggled for a 3rd game in a row, getting out after scoring a labouring 6 runs off 11 balls. His form will become a cause for concern if this run continues.
Sanju Samson (N/A): Sanju saw another opportunity to impress pass by as he wasn’t needed with the ball and had a reasonable game with the gloves.
India vs West Indies 3rd T20I summary and highlights
West Indies won the toss and decided to bat first. Their two openers gave them a solid if unspectacular start, as they were 55/0 after 7.3 overs. However, after Mayers got out, neither King nor Charles could fire and the innings stalled. That is until Pooran came and injected some impetus with a firing 12 ball 20. After he got out, skipper Powell powered to a 19 ball 40, but without any significant support from anyone else, could only take his Team to 159/5 at the end of 20 overs.
Chasing a somewhat par score, India lost debutant Jaiswal in the very first over, but world no.1 SKY came out all guns blazing, getting India ahead of the required run rate within the first 4 overs. Shubman Gill fell after a struggling 6 off 11 balls, as the impressive Tilak Varma joined SKY. The pair then went on to stitch an 87 run partnership off just 50 balls, which all but killed the game. MotM SKY fell after scoring 83 off just 44 balls, but Tilak took India to a comfortable victory, well supported by captain Pandya.
