Under fire for his recent failures in ODI matches and first two T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav bounced back with an explosive knock of 83 off 44 balls while Tilak Varma struck an unbeaten 49 as India beat West Indies by seven wickets in the third T20I at Providence Stadium, here on Tuesday.
This triumph keeps India alive in the five-match series as they reduced to margin to 2-1.
After the early dismissal of debutant opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, India swiftly regrouped with Suryakumar Yadav’s classy performance as he built an impressive 87-run partnership for the third wicket with Tilak (49 not out).
Thanks to Surya and Tilak’s impressive knocks, India chased down the 160-run target in 17.5 overs, revitalising their hopes in the series after facing defeats in the first two matches.
Chasing 160, India had a shocking start as they lost Jaiswal early in the first over. Then, Yadav came and quickly launched an attack with his big hits.
Gill once again fell cheaply as he threw his wicket in the fifth over when he looked to pull it away but got the top edge for Jonatan Charles to take a comfortable catch.
Varma, who was the top scorer in the last two games, continued with his fine form and started with back-to-back boundaries. Suryakumar and Varma went for three big hits to take the Power-play score to 60/2.
Soon, Yadav brought up his 14th T20 fifty off just 23 with a fine boundary. He maintained his aggressive approach, achieving a milestone of 100 international sixes by skillfully dispatching a slower ball for a spectacular maximum. Building on that achievement, he promptly struck a boundary. At the halfway point, India found themselves in a dominant position at 97-2.
Surya’s impressive innings concluded in the 13th over, as he directed Alzarri Joseph’s full toss towards fine leg, where King remained stationary and completed the catch without any difficulty.
After Surya’s dismissal, Tilak took centrestage and went for a few big hits but missed out on his second fifty as captain Hardik Pandya finished the chase with a maximum to keep India alive in the series.
Earlier, opting to bat first, West Indies got off to a decent start with openers Kyle Mayers and Brandon King stitched a 55-run opening stand. However, India made a comeback with Kuldeep Yadav taking two wickets in an over.
But the hosts got the rhythm through skipper Rovman Powell, who’s unbeaten 19-ball 40 quickfire powered West Indies to 159/5 in 20 overs.
Brief score:
West Indies 159/5 in 20 overs (Brandon King 42, Rovman Powell 40*; Kuldeep Yadav 3-28) lost to India 164/3 in 17.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 83, Tilak Varma 49 not out; Alzarri Joseph 2-25) by seven wickets.
