Brandon King’s unbeaten 85 helped West Indies beat India by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20I and clinch the five-match series 3-2 here at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday.
West Indies chased down a target of 166 runs in 18 overs in a chase that was set up by Romario Shepherd’s career best 4/31 in the first innings and finished by King.
The 3-2 result breaks India’s streak of remaining unbeaten in 12 T20I series and gives West Indies its first series win over India since 2017.
It was a dominating run chase by the hosts despite losing Kyle Mayers in the second over off Arshdeep Singh. Nicholas Pooran was promoted to number three to keep the left-right combination in play.
The duo made merry of the powerplay restrictions and smacked 61 runs off it to get a solid start. While both King and Pooran kept going for boundaries against each bowler, they made sure to give Kuldeep Yadav enough respect who was bowling with control and finished with figures of 0/18 in his four overs.
The match had several pauses due to rain but the longest one came in the 13th over when the play was stopped due to lightning precautions. After more than half an hour stoppage, Pooran got out to part-timer Tilak Varma for 47 off 35 balls, but it was too late for India to make a comeback.
With 47 still left to score, Shai Hope continued from where he left yesterday while King kept finding boundaries with ease. Hope finished the match with a six off another part-timer Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Earlier, Shepherd triggered India’s middle order collapse to restrict it to 165/9.
Opting to bat first, India lost both Jaiswal and Shubman Gill early in the innings. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma helped India recover early jolt with a 49-run stand for the third wicket. However, it lost Varma to a one-hand diving catch on return by Roston Chase.
While Suryakumar looked in good touch and played with attacking intent, India kept losing wickets from the other end. Shepherd removed both Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya cheaply, before picking two more lower order wickets - Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.
Suryakumar made 61 off 45 balls to help India reach a respectable total of 165.
India finishes a month-long tour of the Caribbean, winning Tests and ODIs while West Indies clinched the T20Is.
Source: Sports Star
BDST: 1017 HRS, AUG 14, 2023
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