Abhishek Sharma’s scintillating 69 and pacer Arshdeep Singh’s crucial three-wicket haul paved the way for India’s 14-run victory against the West Indies in the third T20I in Indore on Sunday. India now lead the five-match series 2-1. Abhishek’s 30-ball knock (6×4, 5×4) and his century alliance with Ishan Kishan (37) drove India’s charge with the bat which was undone a bit by sloppy effort in the middle-overs. India made 223 all out. In reply, Arshdeep Singh (3/44) dealt a severe blow early when he cleaned up in-form WI skipper Shai Hope (5) in the second over, and accounted for Sherfane Rutherford (32) and Keemo Paul (10) later in the innings to seal the outcome of the contest.
Shimron Hetmyer (43, 26b; 4×6, 6×2) got a lifeline early, but he did not really capitalise. The Caribbean side failed to recover from the early dismissal of Hope.
India vice-captain Tilak Varma, who was run out embarrassingly earlier in the first half, redeemed himself with two sharp catches in the deep as India continued tightening their grip on the game.
With those three shots, Abhishek had made it clear that it was his day to drive India’s innings forward, and he did it with his 14th half-century which came off 18 balls. Having been smacked for a six over his head in the previous ball, Chase pitched one short, guessing Kishan’s forward movement and Hope was quick enough to whip the bails off. It was the third time Chase dismissed Kishan in this series in as many matches.
