Harshal Patel celebrates after dismissing West Indies batter Romario Shepherd I PTI
Kolkata: Seamer Harshal Patel’s superb spell of 3-22 helped India beat West Indies by 17 runs in their third and final cricket Twenty20 match to sweep the series 3-0 on Sunday.
Patel played his part in restricting the West Indies to 167-9 in its unsuccessful chase after the visitors won the toss and opted to bowl. Suryakumar Yadav’s 65 off 31 balls had propelled India to 184-5.
Chasing 185 for a consolation win, West Indies lost both openers quickly to Deepak Chahar (2-15) and was reduced to 26-2.
Nicholas Pooran continued his good form and powered his way to a second consecutive half-century. He scored 61 off 47 balls, including eight fours and a six. Pooran put on 47 runs for the third wicket with Rovman Powell (25), who hit two fours and a pair of sixes. Patel’s dismissal of Powell in the seventh over marked the turning point of the chase.
Venkatesh Iyer (2-23) then dismissed Kieron Pollard (5) and Jason Holder (2) as West Indies collapsed to 87-5 in the 11th over.
Romario Shepherd raised hopes of a late surge for West Indies with 29 off 21 balls, including three sixes.
But Patel returned in the death overs to dismiss Pooran and Shepherd in successive overs. It turned the game heavily in India’s favor, leaving a comfortable 23 runs for Shardul Thakur (2-33) to defend in the final over.
Earlier, India played around with its batting order and paid the price.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (4) was dismissed early, caught at third man. Ishan Kishan (34) and Shreyas Iyer (25) then added 53 runs for the second wicket.
Both batters were dismissed within seven deliveries as West Indies pegged India back. Shreyas Iyer holed out off Hayden Walsh (1-30) and Kishan was bowled by Roston Chase (1-23) while trying to push the scoring.
India captain Rohit Sharma (7) had demoted himself to No. 4 and the move didn’t work. He was bowled by Dominic Drakes (1-37) as India reached 93-4 in 13.5 overs.
Venkatesh Iyer (35 not out) and Yadav then put on 91 runs to stun the West Indies and pushed India to a winning total.
Yadav smacked seven sixes in a whirlwind innings, reaching 50 off only 27 balls. It was his fourth T20 half-century.
Venkatesh Iyer hit four fours and two sixes during his 19-ball stay as the duo plundered 86 runs off the last 30 deliveries.
The entire three-match series was hosted in Kolkata. Earlier, India had swept the three-match ODI series by a 3-0 margin.
India’s next assignment is against Sri Lanka. The three-match T20 series begins Thursday and will be followed by a two-match test series. AP
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