Team India locked horns with the West Indies for the third and the final T20I at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai and the hosts defeated the Windies by 67 runs and sealed the series by 2-1. After winning the toss again, the Windies skipper, Kieron Pollard deiced to bowl first. While the visitors made no changes to their squad, the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli said that Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami came back in the squad to replace Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal.
India got off to dominating start in the finale at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, owing to the openers, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma smashing the windies for the word go. While Sharma started by smashing Sheldon Cottrell, Rahul too joined the party with some lustrous blows from the other end. They went on to score 72 runs in the powerplay itself.
WATCH – Twitterati Applauds As Lewis Saves A Six By Rohit
After Rohit’s dismissal in the 12th over, Rishabh Pant also got out without troubling the scorers, then came Kohli, who added as many as 95 runs for the third wicket with his him scoring 70* off just 29 balls. Rahul got out at 91 in the final over and Indian went on the register a total of 240/3 in their tally of 20 overs. In the first innings, Evin Lewis got injured and stretchered off the field in the 12th over
During the chase, the Windies openers, Brandon King and Lendl Simmons started on a decent note, but the Indian pacers, Bhuveshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, and Deepak Chahar got a wicket each in the second, third and fourth over as they dismissed, Kings, Simmons and Nicholas Pooran respectively. After those wickets, the Windies came down to 17/3 in the 4th over.
WATCH – Kuldeep Dismisses Hetmyer After Getting Smashed For Sixes
Shimron Hetmyer and Pollard then added 74 runs for the 4th wicket before, Kuldeep dismissing Hetmyer in the 10th over. The batsman had smashed the bowler for a couple of the sixes before getting caught by KL Rahul at the long-n boundary. However, Pollard kept on smashing the Indian bowlers as he smashed before being dismissed by Bhuvneshwar in the 15th over.
After Pollard’s dismissal, the match was nothing but over for the Windies as they eventually lost the game by 67 runs as they only managed to reach a total of 173/8 in their quota of 20 overs.
Brief scores:
India – 240/3 in 20 overs (KL Rahul: 91, R Sharma: 71; K Williams: 1/37) defeated West Indies – 173/8 in 20 overs (K Pollard: 68; D Chahar: 4/20, M Shami: 2/25) by 67 runs.
Here is how Twitter reacted to India’s series win:
That was quite some hitting from the men in blue. The pitch is a belter and this should be a thrilling contest #IndvWI pic.twitter.com/UENIBny7u6
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) December 11, 2019
That was an absolute run fest with some outrageous hitting from Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat . Over to the bowlers to defend 240 and win the series #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/EGv1tKJwgi
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 11, 2019
Kohli is Outrageous, in a league of his own. He can adapt to any format and don't think anyone else comes even remotely closer across formats. To call it colloquially this is pure #Verithanam from the Men in blue #INDvWI
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) December 11, 2019
Indian T20 cricket came of age tonight. Batting first & getting 240. Must thank WI for that, India knew they had to get plenty.#INDvWI
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 11, 2019
Fine series win for India. Great intensity shown in batting to post that big score. Deep desire to win unmistakable. Congrats Kohli & Co
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) December 11, 2019
Absolutely delighted with the way @klrahul11 player this series. Please don’t forget he is a good enough keeper in this format and keeps wickets in domestic cricket. Opens up a huge option.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) December 11, 2019
WI look very disappointed when shaking hands,they look Serious, Determined now,which is v good,Strong WI is a good thing for World Cricket.Pollard as Captain is ideal.WI were handicapped as Evin Lewis was injured,he could have provided the momentum & impetus in the chase.#INDvWI
— Rishabh Wadhwa (@Cric_Rishabh) December 11, 2019
Well done #TeamIndia 1st time India batted with T20 tempo Rahul Rohit Virat were exceptional 🔥🔥🔥 #INDvWI
— Aman Kamboj (@BeingCriCrazy) December 11, 2019
