Team India kept their domination active over West Indies in the white-ball battle as the hosts won the third and final T20I by 17 runs to clean sweep the three-match series at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. Notably, India had whitewashed West Indies in the three-match ODI leg as well.
Just like the second T20I, the home team managed to defend the total in the challenging conditions impacted by the dew, thanks to a sensational display of death bowling. Another thing that matched the second T20I was the sloppy fielding display from the home side.
India dropped a few catches, which could’ve cost them the game, but fortunately, it didn’t. Captain Rohit Sharma was, as usual, proactive on the field and exhibited a glimpse of it by grabbing a stunner in the final over of Windies chase.
It all happened on the third ball of the 20th over bowled by all-rounder Shardul Thakur. The right-armer bowled a slower delivery which was driven hard by tailender Dominic Drakes. But Rohit had placed himself at the wide mid-off position, and didn’t lose the opportunity to take Drakes’ catch.
The Indian skipper moved a little further to his right and timed the dive perfectly to grab a low catch to cut short Drakes’ innings.
Here is the video:
https://twitter.com/shrexy93/status/1495448484261990407
In the contest, after being asked to bat, India first posted 184/5 in 20 overs, thanks to a blistering knock by Suryakumar Yadav. The middle-order batter smashed 65 off just 31 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries. Surya was well supported by Venkatesh Iyer, who chipped in with 35 off 19 balls.
In response, the visitors could only manage to reach 167/9, losing the match by 17 runs. Vice-captain Nicholas Pooran yet again top-scored with 61 off 47 deliveries but didn’t get enough support from the other end. For India, Harshal Patel was the pick of the bowlers, taking a three-wicket haul for 22 runs.
