Uzair Rizvi BeyondHeadlines
India beat West Indies by three wickets in the third ODI to clinch the five match ODI series.
Chasing a modest target of 226, India reached home in 46.2 overs losing seven wickets, courtesy Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 86.
He outshone a similar effort form Andre Russell who blasted 92 off 64 to give West Indies a defendable target after struggling at 96/7.
Chasing a target off 226, India were put on backfoot very early as they lost two important wickets of Dhawan and Kohli in successive deliveries.
Soon Badrinath got run-out which affected the concentration of Parthiv Patel as he got out for a well scored 46.
Raina failed to shine as he mistimed his un-required slog shot and Pathan’s chip over short midwicket ended up giving Simmons just enough to fly in the air and grab a spectacular catch.
India were reduced to 92/6.
Rohit Sharma came up to India’s rescue as he along with Harbhajan added 88 runs for the seventh wicket.
Sharma played with ease making some magnificent strokes.
Harbhajan was cautious as he made valuable 41 runs.
Praveen Kumar provided final flourish with 2 sixes in the powerplay overs.
Rohit Shrama kept his composure and played another responsible innings in the series. He ran the singles and punished the loose deliveries.
West Indies bolwers did really well as they kept on taking wickets adding more pressure on the Indian Batsmen with Sammy and Bishoo picking up two wickets each.Russel was expensive in picking up a wicket.
Kemar Roach failed to help the hosts as he went wicketless in his first game.
Earlier, Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to bowl first at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua
West Indies lost their first wicket at the score of nil. Then a half century stand between Sarwan and Simmons steadied the innings before Sarwan was run-out on 28 and after then it was a mini collapse for the hosts as they lost 6 wickets for 31 runs.
At 96/7, Russel with Baugh showed great maturity in the playing. The duo added 78 runs. After Baugh’s wicket Russel changed his gear and smashed Indian bowlers apart with 8 fours and 5 sixes to remain unbeaten on 92, highest score by a number nine.
He scored 42 off the last 14 balls he faced as the hosts recovered well and made 225/8 after a poor start.
Amit Mishra seems to have become a monster for the Winidies as he again befuddled them by picking up 3/28.
Munaf Patel also picked up 3 wickets for 60 runs. Harbhajan was tidy and economical for his 1/24.
Absence of 5th bowler cost Raina giving 65 runs from three bowlers.
It was a tale of batting collapses and late recoveries for both the teams.
Sammy at the presentation said that they lacked the killer touch after being in the match for a good period. He blamed his batsmen for a poor show.
Raina was all praise for Russel and also lauded Sharma’s valiant effort and Mishra’s superb bowling.
Sharma led India to a series win but it was Andre Russell’s unexpected hurricane which earned him Man of the Match.
West Indies lost their second consecutive ODI series. With two more games to go, the visitors will look to rotate the team with fresh legs coming in.
West Indies will be disappointed to lose it from a winning position and will vow to make a positive return in the remaining two games. They trail the Series by 3-0
