India bowlers put up a solid performance, striking at regular intervals, to bundle the West Indies out for 132 as they won the fourth T20I by 59 runs to seal the series with an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Captain Rohit Sharma (33) and Suryakumar Yadav (24) had earlier made a rollicking start while Rishabh Pant hit a solid 44 as India posted a formidable 191 for 5 at Lauderhill, Florida, on Saturday.
India — who gave opportunities to Sanju Samson, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi and benched Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin — had raced to 53 inside the first five overs after the Windies opted to bowl. Rain and bad weather had delayed the start by around 45 minutes.
On a good batting surface with small boundaries, Rohit and Suryakumar cashed in on anything that was ill-directed. Their dismissals hardly had any effect on India’s run-rate as Pant and Deepak Hooda (21) batted smartly during their 47-run third-wicket stand.
India seemed to be losing their flow a little bit in the slog overs. However, thanks to Axar (20 not out), who smashed two sixes and a four off just eight balls, India were able to cross 190.
All-rounder Harshal Patel has been ruled out of this T20I series against the West Indies owing to a rib injury. This makes him doubtful for the Asia Cup in UAE.
Brief scores: India 191/5 in 20 overs (R. Pant 44, R. Sharma 33). WI 132 in 19.1 overs (Arshdeep Singh 3/12, Avesh Khan 2/17). India won by 59 runs.
Warming up well: DK
Dinesh Karthik. Twitter
Lauderhill (Florida): Dinesh Karthik feels playing in different conditions on the ongoing tour of the West Indies will stand India in good stead while preparing for the challenges Australian grounds could pose during the T20 World Cup in October-November.
“We’ve adjusted well in different conditions here. In the World Cup, the three grounds that come to my mind are Sydney, where the sides are slightly smaller and the straights are longer. In Adelaide, we all know that the sides are very small and again, the straights are long, whereas in Melbourne, the straights are shortand the sides are very big.
“So we’ll be encountering different grounds wherever we play. We are warming up really well though,” Karthik said.