Match Details
Arya- It was Indian skipper Shikhar Dhawan who won the toss this time around and decided to bat. The start was again a decent one for India with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubhman Gill playing cautiously at the start but also struck some fluent shots in the process. Gill continued his great form in the series and found the gaps in the powerplay. Despite some good batting by the opening duo, the run rate was just a shade over 4 after the end of the mandatory powerplay.
However, after the powerplay, both the openers came out all guns blazing and started to take the West Indies bowlers on. They didn’t take any undue risks but managed to score at a decent clip. The duo reached a hundred runs partnership for the second time in the series. However, just when Dhawan looked like changing gears, he was dismissed by Hayden Walsh Jr. The leggie lured him into a false with a slow tossed-up delivery and Dhawan ended up top-edging that straight down the throat of Nicholas Pooran.
Just after Dhawan’s wicket, there was a long interruption as rain played spoilsport and reduced the match to a 40 overs affair. After the break, the duo of Shubhman Gill and Shreyas Iyer was all pumped up and managed to find the gaps on a consistent basis and also managed to clear the fence on quite a few occasions. The class of both the players was on display as it was an exhibition of strokeplay. The use of the feet was of the highest order as they took India to a position of dominance.
Iyer was eventually dismissed on 44 of 34 deliveries, an innings which included 4 fours and a six. One brought another as Suryakumar Yadav went for a big heave towards the leg side and ended up top-edging that straight down the throat of the backward point fielder. The rain came back to halt India's progress one more time as Shubhman Gill was left stranded on 98. It was some good bowling by the spinners as they didn't allow Samson and Gill to cut loose. The target for West Indies was eventually revised to 257 in 35 overs.