India beat West Indies by 119 runs via DLS method in a rain-hit third ODI to complete a 3-0 whitewash against West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, on Wednesday.
The first interruption came with India 115/1 after 24 overs. After the match was shortened to a 40-over contest rain stopped play again with India 225/3 in 36 overs.
Opting to bat, India posted 225 for three in 36 overs with opener Shubman Gill scoring an unbeaten run-a-ball 98 and skipper Shikhar Dhawan hitting a 74-ball 58.
West Indies, set a revised target of 257 in 35 overs, lost wickets regularly and were all out for 137 in 26 overs.
In case of left-handed Mayers, it was a perfectly full outswinger (inswinger for the batter) that tailed in and went through his defence.
Right-handed batter Brooks got an off-cutter that was pitched slightly short of length but jagged back sharply to find the batter plumb in-front.
In a chase of 257 in 36 overs, the scorecard reading 0 for 2 is always bad omen and West Indies never recovered from that setback.
The normally consistent Shai Hope (22) was stumped by Sanju Samson off Chahal’s bowling, while King after some breathtaking shots was beaten by an arm-ball from Patel.
Mohammed Siraj put West Indies on the back foot in the second over of the chase, when he cleaned Kyle Mayers up with a good length delivery before trapping Shamarh Brooks in front with one that angled in. West Indies were 0 for 2 at that stage, with nine deliveries gone.
Brandon King and Shai Hope briefly brought them back on track with a 47-run stand before Yuzvendra Chahal had Hope stumped for 22.
King was then joined by Nicholas Pooran in another partnership that gave West Indies hope, before Axar Patel’s arm ball in the 14th over bowled King for 42.
But immediately after, Pooran fired a six and four off Deepak Hooda, keeping his side afloat as the required rate hovered around eight an over.
However, Keacy Carty’s struggle to get going at the other end seemed to put pressure back on Pooran; when Carty finally decided to try something different, he skipped down to Shardul Thakur in the 19th over only to bottom-edge on to his stumps for 5 off 17 balls.
By then, West Indies needed nearly 10 an over, and although Pooran hit two more fours off Axar, he fell for 42 in the 22nd over to all but end the game.
In the media conference, west indies skipper Nicholos Pooran said best version of West Indies is not far away
“We’re just starting to obviously put performances together,” Pooran said on the eve of the third ODI. “I don’t want to come to a conclusion and say our batting is our strength or our bowling is our strength. As a team we’re still figuring it out. We haven’t put a collective effort together yet, obviously the results haven’t shown that yet, but the more games we play as a unit, we’re going to figure it out and we’re close to crossing the line and actually figuring it out what is our strength as a team.
“I don’t want to be saying that our batting is our strength or bowling is our strength. I want both facets to be our strength, to be honest. That’s how we’re going to win cricket games. We’re just staying the moment, trying to learn as fast as possible and sticking through these tough times as a team.”
“The confidence level is there,” Pooran said. “The guys are obviously hurt. Those two losses obviously hurt us a lot but that’s another game and that’s another experience and another opportunity for us to learn. This game keeps teaching us different things and I’m just happy that we’ve had that experience. It’s difficult to obviously lose, I’m disappointed, but that’s where the learning takes place and as a group we understand that and we know that for a fact that it’s our time now.
“I keep telling winning and losing is contagious and at the moment in ODI cricket we’re losing and we’re finding ways to lose games, but in terms of the confidence level all the guys are ready for the challenge again. We’re ready to come out there and put our hearts and souls out there and perform together as a team.”