India Vs West Indies: 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma shine as India keep series alive with seven-wicket win | Cricket News – Times of India
After Kuldeep Yadav (3/28) stopped the flow of runs in the middle overs, West Indies skipper Rovman Powell‘s stunning 40 not out off 19 balls took the hosts to a competitive 159 for five.
As it happened: India vs West Indies, 3rd T20I
In the run chase, debutant Yashavi Jaiswal (1) and Shubman Gill (6) were out cheaply before Suryakumar came up with a remarkable 83 off 44 balls to help India reach the target in 17.5 overs.
Tilak Varma (49 not out off 37 balls) was content to back up his senior Mumbai Indians teammate in their 87-run stand. Tilak missed his second consecutive fifty in his first series as skipper Hardik Pandya (20* off 15) hit the winning six.
The West Indies lead the five-match series 2-1, with the next game scheduled for Saturday in Lauderhill, Florida.
Suryakumar, who has had a quiet trip thus far, hit his opening ball for a boundary. It’s nearly impossible to stop Suryakumar when he’s finding gaps at will, and that’s exactly what the West Indies bowlers had to deal with.
His inning featured 10 fours and four sixes, with the highlight being a picture-perfect straight hit over the head of pacer Obed McCoy.
Following Suryakumar’s departure in the 13th over, Hardik and Tilak did the necessary. Tilak, who started his inning with back-to-back fours, demonstrated that he is here to stay.
Earlier, Kuldeep dismissed the dangerous Nicholas Pooran (20 off 12) and a well-set Brandon King (42 off 42) in the 15th over to reclaim momentum from the West Indies.
The game was delayed slightly because the 30-yard circle was not demarcated, which was a rare occurrence.
The West Indies had their strongest start of the series after deciding to bat, with King and Kyle Mayers (25 off 20) sharing a 55-run stand.
As expected, the surface was slow, prompting Hardik to add spin as early as the third over through Axar Patel, who conceded a couple of boundaries.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who generally does not bowl in the powerplay, was assigned that assignment. But Mayers immediately put Chahal under pressure by sweeping him for a six.
Kuldeep, the third spinner, came in to bowl after the powerplay and was thrashed for four on his first delivery by Mayers. A brave King stepped out three balls later to dispatch Kuldeep’s googly for a straight six.
After Mayers and Johnson Charles were dismissed, Pooran joined King and attempted to establish his dominance over the Indian bowlers.
He came down the track and knocked Kuldeep over long on before collecting a boundary on the next ball.
Kuldeep, on the other hand, had the final laugh when he stumped a charging Pooran. Kuldeep then collected a superb return catch four balls later to dismiss King, leaving West Indies at 106 for four in 14.5 overs.
Skipper Powell then hit three sixes in the final two overs to boost the total.
Arshdeep Singh’s 19th over yielded 17 runs, providing the home team with a much-needed boost. The hosts scored 53 runs in the final 30 balls.
(With inputs from PTI)
