Calcutta: The spinners, led by Kuldeep Yadav (3/28), did a decent job on a helpful track first up. Thereafter, Suryakumar Yadav (83 off 44 balls) was back to what he does best in the shortest format as India thumped the West Indies by seven wickets in the third T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday to stay alive in the series.
After the Windies won the toss and opted to bat, Kuldeep, with support from Axar Patel (1/24) — who didn’t bowl even an over in the previous game — and Yuzvendra Chahal, restricted the home team to 159/5. Meaty blows towards the close of their innings from captain Rovman Powell (40 not out off 19 balls) ensured the Windies went past 150.
The ball gripped a little bit on the surface, and Kuldeep, returning to the XI after missing the previous game owing to a sore left thumb, made fair use of it.
Surya then, aided by his characteristic ramp and pick-up shots over the fine-leg region, produced a masterly knock that helped India to comfortably reach the target with 13 balls to spare. A mention needs to be made of young Tilak Varma (49 not out off 37 balls) as the left-hander was once again on the ball straightaway, beginning with back-to-back boundaries and rotating the strike that made the task simpler for Surya at the other end.
India didn’t have the best of starts yet again. Yashasvi Jaiswal finally made his T20I debut, coming in place of Ishan Kishan. But he lasted two balls before miscuing a slower one from Obed McCoy.
Shubman Gill, the other opener, also didn’t last long as he fell off his Gujarat Titans teammate Alzarri Joseph. At 34/2 in the fifth over, the Windies were very much in the game. But Surya had already taken off, having hit a four and a six off his first two balls.
Even though he hasn’t had much success in international cricket lately, Surya ensured not to let go of this opportunity. With Varma steady and solid at one end, Surya simply kept unleashing his strokes with the Windies bowlers too feeding him with some very ordinary stuff.
His partnership with Varma for the third wicket fetched India 87 off only 8.2 overs and had as good as won them the contest. With only 39 needed off 44 balls following Surya’s departure, Varma and captain Hardik Pandya (20 not out) managed to knock off those runs with ease.
Earlier, Kuldeep’s stump-to-stump line earned him the first of his three wickets when he trapped Johnson Charles lbw. The left-arm chinaman used his guile thereafter to dismiss the in-form Nicholas Pooran. And on the penultimate ball of the same over, Kuldeep pitched the ball wider as it also gripped a bit on the surface, inducing a poor shot from Brandon King.
The Windies had slipped to 106/4 after 15 overs, losing two set batters. That over from Kuldeep was certainly one key aspect in the context of the result.
