king sheperd and pooran steer west indies to historic series win
West Indies defeated India by eight wickets in the series deciding fifth and final T20 International to win the series 3-2 here on Sunday.
Suryakumar Yadav made a 45-ball 61 to guide India to 165 for nine against the West Indies in after opting to bat. Tilak Varma made 27 off 18 balls after India opted to bat first.
For West Indies, Romario Shepherd (4/31) was the pick of the bowlers.
Chasing, West Indies rode on skipper Brandon King’s unbeaten 85 and Nicholas Pooran’s 47 to romp home. comfortably in 18 overs.
Within 24 hours of pro- ducing a batting master- class on a featherbed, the Indian batters, Suryakumar save Yadav’s scratchy yet effective 61 off 45 balls, posted a sub-par score of 165 for 9 after opting to bat on a used track that had become slower.
On a pitch where stroke making wasn’t an easy proposition, Surya had to curb his flair a bit but still had enough firepower in his arsenal to hit four fours and three sixes during his knock. In reply, India’s nemesis Nicholas Pooran looked way more fluent in company of Brandon King as they added 107 runs for the second wicket to see West Indies
through. When rain stopped play, they were way above DLS
par-score of 91 and will be deserving winners even if play didn’t start.
On same track where the Caribbean bowlers put
Brandon King (unbeaten 85) and Nicholas Pooran (47) celebrate their match-winning partnership
Indian batters under tight leash, the bowling attack looked horribly out of depth barring Kuldeep Yadav (0/18), who delivered yet
another steady performance. Pooran and King cleverly decided to play out Kuldeep’s spell and attacked others with disdain.
First time the Windies have beaten India in a 5-match T201 series.
India also suffered defeat in an international series (minimum three matches) against the Windies for the first time in 17 years.
Scoreboard India innings
india innings
Yashasvi Jaiswal c & b Hosein 5, Shubman Gill lbw b Hosein 9, Suryakumar Yadav lbw b Holder 61 (45 balls, 4×4, 3×6), Tilak Varma c & b Chase 27 (18 balls, 3×4, 2×6), Sanju Samson c Pooran b Shepherd 13, Hardik Pandya (c) c Holder b Shepherd 14, Axar Patel c Shepherd b Holder 13, Arshdeep Singh b Shepherd 8, Kuldeep Yadav lbw b Shepherd 0, YS Chahal not out 0, Mukesh Kumar not out 4. Total: 165/9
Fall of wickets:
1-6, 2-17, 3-66, 4-87, 5-130, 6-140, 7-149, 8-149, 9-161.
Bowling: Akeal Hosein 4-0-24- 2, Kyle Mayers 1-0-4-0, Jason Holder 4-0-36-2, Alzarri Joseph 3-0-41-0, Roston Chase 4-0-25- 1, Romario Shepherd 4-0-31-4.
West Indies innings Brandon King not out 85 (55balls, 5×4, 6×6), Kyle Mayers c Jaiswal b Arshdeep 10, Nicholas Pooran c Pandya b Tilak 47, Shai Hope not out 22.
Total: 171/2 in 18 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-119.
Bowling:
Hardik Pandya 3-0- 32-0,
Arshdeep Singh 2-0-20-1, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-18-0,
YS Chahal 4-0-51-0,
Mukesh Kumar 1-0-10-0,
Tilak Varma 2- 0-17-1,
Axar Patel 1-0-8-0,
Yashasvi Jaiswal 1-0-11-0.
Player of the Match: Shepherd.
Player of series : pooran
