WI vs IND: 3rd ODI Review – Clinical performances help India seal series in Caribbean
India invited considerable criticism in the first couple of ODIs against the West Indies for experimenting too much with the World Cup being less than three months away. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested for the second ODI as Hardik Pandya led the side. The youngsters were given a go but they failed to impress as Shai Hope’s men managed to keep the series alive with a win.
While many felt regular captain Rohit and talismanic batter Virat would return to the side for the decisive third ODI at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, the team management relied on the younger lot and backed them in the series decider.
The move worked wonders as the likes of Shubman Gill (85 in 92 balls), Ishan Kishan (77 in 64 balls), and Sanju Samson (51 in 41 balls) scored fluent half-centuries and stand-in captain Hardik Pandya also found form to score an unbeaten 55-ball 70. Suryakumar Yadav also played a decent knock of 35 in 30 balls, with Ruturaj Gaikwad being the only one to missed out, getting out for just eight after coming out to bat at No. 3. The ‘Men in Blue’ posted a daunting score of 351/5 in the first innings.
The West Indies would have hoped for a solid start and big scores from their top 3 but that was just what they didn’t manage. Mukesh Kumar, playing just his fifth international game, scalped the big wickets of Brandon King, Kyle Mayers and Shai Hope with the new ball to push the hosts on the back foot.
Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat further dented the hopes of the home side as the West Indies slumped to 50/6 in the 14th over. Yannick Cariah and Alick Athanaze tried to delay the inevitable but their 25-run partnership could not make a difference. Gudakesh Motie swung his bat around and remained unbeaten on 39 off 34 balls, batting at No. 10.
His 55-run partnership with Alzarri Joseph helped West Indies get into the three-figure mark before Shardul took the last two wickets to finish with a four-for and help India win comprehensively. Kuldeep Yadav also took a couple of wickets. The visitors won by a whopping 200 runs to win the series 2-1.
