India vs Windies: 3rd T20I- Who Said What

After a couple of drab affairs in Kolkata and Lucknow respectively, the final T20I between India and Windies at M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai turned out to be a humdinger as the match went right down to the last ball. Eventually, it was the Men in Blue who emerged victorious by six wickets and also managed to whitewash Carlos Brathwaite and Co in the three-match series.

Pooran propels the Windies

The Windies won the toss and elected to bat and this time around, Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer got them off to a flying start with a partnership of 51 runs from 37 balls. Both found the boundaries at regular intervals and kept the scoreboard moving. Yuzvendra Chahal, who played his first match of the T20I series, broke the stand with the wicket of Hope for 24 runs.

The leg-break bowler got rid of Hetmyer in his next over. However, Denesh Ramdin and Darren Bravo put their heads down to put together a stand of 32 runs. Off-spinner Washington Sundar removed Ramdin in the 13th over. Nicholas Pooran came and scored a breezy 53 from merely 25 balls to lift his team up to a significant 181. Bravo also played a matured hand of 43 runs.

Windies run India close

Rohit Sharma perished early in the run chase to seamer Keemo Paul. Nonetheless, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul played their strokes freely to inject momentum into the innings. The ominous-looking 32-run stand was broken by Oshane Thomas with Rahul’s wicket. Thereafter, Dhawan and Rishabh Pant put on 130 for the fourth wicket to well and truly put India on the driver’s seat.

Pant went on to rack up his maiden T20I fifty and was eventually dismissed by Paul. In the next over, Dhawan also had to bite the dust after scoring 92 runs from 62 deliveries. India needed five runs off the last over and they had to huff and puff. Fabian Allen bowled the final over and he almost pulled off the improbable. In the end, Manish Pandey took a single to script India’s win.

Carlos Brathwaite, the Windies captain, said

It would have been (great end to the series). We had a chat before the game and talked about every game being important. We wanted to put a smile on the fans’ face but didn’t get the result we would have liked. I will take the effort and belief, especially taking it to the last ball after Shikhar and Rishabh’s partnership. We saw a few balls grip but on reflection we did not switch quickly enough. (On Pooran’s talent) There are a few here; Shai, Hetmyer and Pooran. But it is important to get the best out of everyone and create a unit that can challenge for the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, said

Games like these happen a lot. Especially in the IPL, these have happened a lot. We wanted to be ruthless and not take a backseat. This kind of performance gives a lot of confidence. We didn’t want to be complacent and wanted to come out and win. As a team there is always scope for improvement. We need to improve on handling pressure situations while bowling. It is important to stick to your strengths, and a lot of these guys have not played much for India so a home series like this was the perfect opportunity to show their talent. I was also very impressed with the fielding efforts in this tournament by the team.

Shikhar Dhawan, the Player of the Match, said

It was a good match. We lost two early wickets, and I knew I had to stay at the crease. Rishabh played well, tremendous partnership between us. He batted really well. I knew he was going after the bowlers so I took a backseat and then I joined the party after he hit a few huge sixes. It doesn’t matter to me what people say, and I just back myself and back my game.

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