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India beat Windies in third T20I, complete 3-0 clean sweep

Harshal Patel (3/22), Deepak Chahar (2/15), Venkatesh Iyer (2/23), Shardul Thakur (2/33) were the wicket-takers for India…reports Asian Lite News

India produced a clinical all-round performance to beat West Indies by 17 runs in the third and final T20I, to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at the Eden Gardens, here on Sunday.

Put into bat, India lost wickets at regular wickets and were in trouble at 93-4 but a classy fifty from Suryakumar Yadav (65 off 31) and an aggressive knock by Venkatesh Iyer (35 off 19) came to the rescue.

The pair stitched a big partnership of 91 runs for the fifth wicket and propelled India to 184-5 in 20 overs. Apart from Suryakumar and Venkatesh, Ishan Kishan also played a vital knock of 34 off 31 balls but once again he was not at his fluent best.

In reply, Nicholas Pooran (61 off 47) smashed a fine fifty and Rovman Powell (25 off 14) and Romario Shepherd (29 off 21) also tried hard but the efforts were not enough as West Indies were restricted to 167-9 in 20 overs, losing the match by 17 runs.

Harshal Patel (3/22), Deepak Chahar (2/15), Venkatesh Iyer (2/23), Shardul Thakur (2/33) were the wicket-takers for India.

Brief scores: India 184-5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 65, Venkatesh Iyer 35; Roston Chase 1/23) beat West Indies 167-9 in 20 Overs (Nicholas Pooran 61; Harshal Patel 3/22, Deepak Chahar 2/15 ) by 17 runs

Captain happy with series win

After an impressive 3-0 clean sweep over West Indies in the T20Is, India skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday said that he is very happy with the result and it was pleasing to see new guys bailing the team out of tough situations in the absence of regular players.

A classy fifty from Suryakumar Yadav (65 off 31) and an aggressive knock by Venkatesh Iyer (35 off 19) followed by a clinical bowling effort helped India beat West Indies by 17 runs in the 3rd T20I and complete a 3-0 clean sweep of the three-match series, at the Eden Gardens.

“Happy with the series. Pretty much got everything that we wanted. We do understand we are very young as a team. We are still a good chasing side, but a lot of the players are missing. So we wanted the guys to understand how to bat in pressure situations. It was pleasing to see guys bailing the team out from tough situations. Good sign moving forward as a group and something to be proud of,” said Sharma in the post-match presentation.

The skipper also praised the bowlers for their impressive performances in both ODI and T20I series.

“I was very impressed with our seam bowling in ODIs. And even here. Harshal is new. Avesh is on debut. Shardul is in and out. So the challenge for us was to give them game time and see how they respond. When you play against a team like the West Indies, you can test your batting and bowling. They bat very deep. It was a good challenge to defend in both games,” he said.

Sharma also highlighted the importance of work-load management, keeping in mind the T20 World Cup in Australia.

“A few guys miss out on the Sri Lanka series because we want to keep them fresh. But we have the World Cup in mind and we are trying to give game time for individuals. Sri Lanka will be a different challenge. But I am not someone who looks at the opposition, I would like to see what we can do as a team,” he said.

Talking about the few areas of improvement, Sharma said, “Ground fielding, catching is something we can correct. Hopefully, we can tick that box as well.”

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