WI vs IND, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav smashes 76 as India beat West Indies by 7 wickets to take 2-1 series lead
WI vs IND, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav displayed his tremendous hitting prowess with a brilliant 76 in the third T20 International here on Tuesday as India cruised to a seven-wicket victory over the West Indies.
India currently leads the five-match series 2-1, and the cricket caravan is travelling to Florida in the United States for the last two matches.
Suryakumar played a 44-ball knock as India defeated the 165-run goal in 19 overs, shattering the Warner Park venue’s record of never having more than 147 chased in a T20I.
In a stand of 86, Shreyas Iyer (24 off 26 balls) was the perfect companion at the other end because they made the goal appear much easier than it actually was, especially on a surface that didn’t initially appear to be batting-friendly.
After a brief dry spell following his first T20I century at Nottingham, Suryakumar was back in his element and this time playing an unexpected role as the series’ opener, which he has been doing.
He once again displayed his flexibility, skill, and hand-eye coordination in a 360-degree effort. In his knock, there were eight fours and four sixes.
Alzarri Joseph made a picture-perfect lofted six over extra cover that will be hard to forget because he maintained his position for a few seconds after the shot was made.
The same bowler produced a sliced six, a ramp shot that took use of pace and bounce, a draw over deep mid-wicket, and a cross-batted punch over the mid-on fielder.
He finished off his fifty against the frugal left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein with a slog sweep over square leg.
At the halfway point, the score was 96 for no loss despite Rohit Sharma (11) having to leave the game due to a pulled back muscle.
By the time Suryakumar was dismissed. India had the match under control with Rishabh Pant (33 not out off 26 balls) delivering finishing touches.
After Rohit won a fine toss and elected to play, his bowling unit kept disciplined for the better part. Before Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh’s relative inexperience saw West Indies put up a tough 164 for 5.
Left-handed After an opening stand with Brandon King that produced 57. Kyle Mayers (73 off 50 balls) did punish the Indian attack with eight fours and four sixes in his arsenal. He then added 50 in 7.2 overs with captain Nicholas Pooran (22 off 23 balls).
Avesh Khan’s subpar performance (0/47 in 3 overs) stood out like a sore thumb. But the other bowlers delivered a solid performance without standing out.
Arshdeep (1/33 in 4 overs) prepped as a death overs specialist for his ability to bowl those wide yorkers. Much like Dinesh Karthik he the team’s designated finisher in the batting order with 20 balls set aside for him.
However, the Punjabi lad is still a work in progress in the high-pressure environment of international cricket.
With the help of Shimron Hetmyer (20 off 12 balls) and Rovman Powell. The final two overs produced 27 runs (23 off 14 balls).
The standout bowler for India was Hardik Pandya, who utilised the pace shift well by blending his cuts. And slower deliveries with an occasional block-hole delivery to dismiss King.
King looked scratchy throughout his run-a-ball 20, and after hitting a half-century in the previous match, Pandya castled him. In the context of the innings as a whole. His ultimate stats of 4-0-19-1 with 12 dot balls were unquestionably significant.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-26-0), who also had a dozen dot balls to his credit, was brilliant throughout the middle overs.
Ravindra Jadeja was replaced in the playing XI by Deepak Hooda, who bowled a decent over with the new ball. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-35-2) also bowled steadily, as he usually does on most occasions.
Rishabh Pant took both catches as he got rid of Pooran with more pace and bounce. And dangerous Mayer with a bigger, grippier ball.
The post WI vs IND, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav smashes 76 as India beat West Indies by 7 wickets to take 2-1 series lead appeared first on CricTelegraph.