Georgetown (Guyana): Skipper Rovman Powell’s unbeaten 19-ball 40 powered West Indies to 159/5 in 20 overs against India in the third T20I of the five-match series here at Providence Stadium on Tuesday.
After a decent start, West Indies appeared to be in control of the game. However, India made a comeback with Kuldeep Yadav taking two wickets in an over. But the hosts managed to achieve the highest score of the series, thanks to Powell’s unbeaten knock of 40 runs.
West Indies got off to a decent start with openers Kyle Mayers and Brandon King adding 30 runs in the first four overs. However, the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel managed to rein in the run rate, and the hosts managed to add just 8 runs in the next two overs, posting 38 for no loss on the board in the powerplay.
Then, Axar Patel again came into the attack in the eight over to trap dangerous-looking Mayers for 25, breaking the 55-run opening partnership, to give India the first breakthrough and West Indies were looking comfortable with 73-1 at the halfway mark.
In the eighth over, Axar Patel once again launched an attack, managing to dismiss the dangerous Mayers, who had scored 25 runs, thus breaking the 55-run opening partnership and West Indies looked relatively comfortable with a score of 73/1 at the halfway mark.
The next over, Kuldeep claimed a wicket by trapping Johnson Charles lbw, thanks to a successful review. Charles attempted a sweep shot but misjudged the timing, leading to the ball hitting him directly in front of the stumps and ball-tracking showed it to be smashing into the middle.
After two relatively quiet overs, Nicholas Pooran smashed back-to-back big hits, first a boundary and then a six to Kuldeep, showcasing his aggressive batting and boosting the team’s scoring pace.
An over later, Kuldeep took swift revenge as he managed to claim the crucial wicket of Pooran, who failed to reach the pitch of the ball in time, resulting in the ball turning away and beating the edge of his bat. Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson had enough time to remove the bails.
To add to his impressive performance, Kuldeep also took the wicket of King in the same over, leaving West Indies at 106/4 in 15 overs. A couple of over later, Mukesh Kumar was brought into the attack and the right-armer struck in his very first ball to dismiss Shimron Hetmyer.
West Indies got the rhythm through Powell, who delivered two powerful sixes against Arshdeep Singh, scoring 17 runs in the penultimate over.
Mukesh started the final over well, giving just two runs in the first four deliveries before Powell struck a six on the next ball and finished the innings with a brace as West Indies posted 159/5.
Brief scores:
West Indies 159/5 in 20 overs (Brandon King 42, Rovman Powell 40*; Kuldeep Yadav 3-28) against India
–IANS
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