Half-centuries from Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan twinned with an all-round bowling performance to deliver India to a 119-run win over the West Indies in the third and final ODI in Trinidad. Chasing 257 in a rain-shortened 36-over dash, the hosts were bowled out for only 137, succumbing to a 3-0 whitewash. It was India’s 12th consecutive series win over the West Indies.
Shubman Gill looked good during his run-a-ball 98* but was left stranded two short of his maiden international hundred. He was denied by the rain that returned for the second time and brought an early end to India’s innings. India finished at 225/3 in 36 overs, leaving the West Indies with a tall DLS-adjusted target to chase.
India acted well after opting to bat, with openers Dhawan and Gill adding 113 runs for the first wicket. It wasn’t a quickfire start against the new ball but Gill, hitherto careful after missing out on two opportunities earlier in the series, grew more confident in his skin over time. He had the perfect company in Dhawan (58 off 74) who picked quick runs at the other end and allowed him the time to get his bearings in place.
The first rain delay had seen the game pruned down to 40 overs per side. When play resumed, India effectively had only 16 more overs to bat and that reflected in how Gill and Shreyas Iyer batted at the time. Iyer was quick to take on Hayden Walsh’s spin, hitting a boundary and a six in the first over and the aggression also rubbed on Gill. The pair added 84 runs in 8.1 overs after the rain break before Iyer pulled a long hop from Akeal Hosein straight to the fielder. Suryakumar Yadav then fell in the next over, slogging an edge to backward point of all positions.
With the ball, Mohammed Siraj set the tone early with the wickets of Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks in his first over. It was a fine display of seam bowling, getting the left-handed Mayers bowled through the gate and the right-handed Brooks plumb in front. Shai Hope and Brandon King looked in good touch during their 47-run stand but couldn’t quite get past India’s spin tangles. Hope was stumped off a loopy delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal whereas King was bowled by an arm-ball from Axar Patel.
India tightened their grip on the game with the wicket of captain Nicholas Pooran, who had India on the backfoot until he miscued a short ball from Prasidh Kishna to mid-on. It was exactly how Shardul Thakur chipped in with wickets on either side of that dismissal, with Chahal polishing things off with a double strike in the 26th over. As a result, India recorded their biggest ODI win over the West Indies in the Caribbean. (cricbuzz)
Brief Scores: India 225/3 in 36 overs (Gill 98*, Dhawan 58; Walsh 2-57) beat West Indies 137 in 26 overs (Pooran 42, King 42; Chahal 4-17, Siraj 2-14) by 119 runs (DLS)