India completed another series win over the Windies by taking an unassailable 3-1 lead at the end of the fourth T20I against the hosts at Lauderhill on August 7. The tourists pulled off one of their most comprehensive wins in recent times, hammering the opposition by 59 runs in the first of the pair of T20Is scheduled in the USA.
Batting first after losing the toss on a surface with a dryish tinge about it, India posted a massive score of 191/5 in their allotted 20 overs, with healthy contributions in the order led by skipper Rohit Sharma (33) at the top.
Rohit helped India maximise the critical new-ball phase during the powerplay with his free-flowing knock. He was backed up earnestly by Suryakumar Yadav, the hero of the last match, who made 24 off 14 at his end before his untimely dismissal.
Batting became progressively more challenging thereafter, but explosive wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant enabled India’s surge to a big score by smashing a highly impressive 44 off 31 deliveries, featuring 6 fours. Pant wasn’t at his best but could still play a knock that perhaps took the game further away from the opposition.
At the other end, Deepak Hooda (21) and Sanju Samson (30*) tried to push the scoring but couldn’t manage to consistently hit the ball off the square. Someone who did manage that outside Rohit and Pant was rising spin allrounder Axar Patel, who relished his chance at No.7 in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja by hammering an unbeaten 20 off 8 balls.
West Indies had left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein (1/28) and pacer Alzarri Joseph (2/29) delivering controlled spells for the afternoon. India managed to turn the tables on the second T20I’s hero Obed McCoy, who had taken 6 for 17 in St Kitts but went for 2 for 66 off 4 overs in Florida, becoming the bowler with the most expensive figures for West Indies men in T20Is.
In the run-chase, the Calypso Kings were crushed under the pressure of the asking rate. Left with no choice but to try and force the issue on a track where it wasn’t the easiest to hit through the line, they lost wickets at regular intervals. This was best summed up by the knock played by their captain Nicholas Pooran, who hit Patel for three sixes and a four in his cameo of 24 before getting run-out after an anxious attempt to sneak in a single and retain strike for the next over.
Patel had an interesting outing with ball in hand wherein the left-arm spinner was taken for 48 runs but ended up dismissing the dangerous Rovman Powell (24) and Kyle Mayers (14) earlier in the innings.
India’s best bowling performers for the game were pacers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. After struggling in the earlier matches, Khan came up with a spell more befitting of his talent and promise, bagging figures of 2 for 17 off his 4 overs.
Singh was special once again and did whatever Rohit and the management asked of him. The left-arm pacer continued his excellent run for the series by taking 3 for 12 off his 3.1 overs. Arshdeep now has 7 wickets on tour with a terrific economy rate of 6.26.
Unorthodox wristspinner Ravi Bishnoi also made his presence felt with a spell of 2 for 27 off his 4 overs.
Brief scores
India 191/5 in 20 overs (Pant 44, Sharma 33; Joseph 2/29) beat West Indies 132/10 in 19.1 overs (Pooran 24; Singh 3/12, Khan 2/17) by 5 wickets
