Arshdeep's yorkers and Abhishek's 69 give India 2-1 lead over West Indies

Arshdeep Singh had gone for 45 without a wicket in Ranchi on Friday. Two nights later in Indore he was the reason India still lead this series. His 3 for 44, built on yorkers at the death, helped India defend 223 and beat West Indies by 14 runs in the third T20I at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.

West Indies, who had chased down 250 two days earlier, finished on 209 for 7. India lead the five-match series 2-1.

Abhishek sets the pace

West Indies won the toss and bowled. Sanju Samson fell for 3 in the second over, but Abhishek Sharma made sure nobody noticed. He hit 69 off 30 balls, with six fours and five sixes, and put on 108 for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan, who made 37 off 18. India were 87 for 1 after the powerplay and 115 for 1 after 8.2 overs.

Then the innings wobbled. Roston Chase had Kishan stumped and trapped captain Shreyas Iyer lbw for 1 three balls later. Abhishek miscued a short ball from Shamar Springer, and Naman Dhir was caught at long-off. India lost four wickets in less than three overs.

Tilak Varma (28 off 16), Nitish Kumar Reddy (21 off 14) and Axar Patel (20 off 14) pushed the total on, though Tilak and Axar were both run out. Prince Yadav hit three boundaries in the final over before India were bowled out off the last ball. Chase finished with 2 for 38.

How the chase was stopped

Arshdeep bowled West Indies captain Shai Hope, the centurion in Ranchi, for 5 in the second over. Shimron Hetmyer (43 off 26) and Kamil Pooran (42 off 27) added 60 in 31 balls, and at 54 for 1 after six overs West Indies were very much in it.

Naman Dhir changed that. He bowled Hetmyer in the seventh over and later had Pooran caught by Arshdeep, finishing with 2 for 39. Axar removed Rovman Powell for 5, and Tilak held two sharp catches in the deep.

Sherfane Rutherford (32 off 20) and Quentin Sampson (21 off 15) kept the asking rate in reach until the 18th over, when Arshdeep removed Keemo Paul and then yorked Rutherford. West Indies were 176 for 7, needing 48 off 12 balls. Springer’s 35 not out off 11 balls, with three sixes off Axar’s last over, only trimmed the margin.

It was pretty nice, the ball was reversing a bit and it’s always pretty fun to bowl at the death with some reverse swing.

The changes that worked

India left out Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube after the Ranchi defeat and brought in Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy, adding a seamer for a spinner. Iyer said the short Indore boundaries drove the decision. “Given the dimensions, we made those changes and we also needed someone who can hit the yorkers,” he said. “It was wonderful to see the bowlers being confident.”

Hope felt the match was lost in small margins. “Probably with the ball, we could’ve executed a little bit better,” he said.

The win made India the first side in this series to win batting first. Iyer’s unbeaten 102 had set up an eight-wicket win in Lucknow, before Hope’s 102 and Rutherford’s 84 took West Indies to 252 for 4 in 18.3 overs in Ranchi, the highest successful chase in West Indies’ T20I history.

What’s next

The fourth T20I is at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 14 October, at 7 pm IST. The series ends at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 17 October.