BENGALURU: Suryakumar Yadav on Tuesday smacked West Indies bowlers with impunity as India defeated the hosts by 7 wickets in the 3rd T20I at St Kitts to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing 165, Surya lent India a rollicking start as he sliced and whipped the left-arm medium-pacer Obed McCoy, the hero of the last match, for two boundaries in the first over. Rohit Sharma also played a couple of rousing shots before he was retired hurt as he charged down the track to Alzarri Joseph but pulled a muscle.
Surya continued his rampage and reeled off an array of shots. He pulled off a cracking upper-cut against Joseph to smash his first six and later swept Akeal Hosein for a six over square-leg to bring up his fifty in just 26 balls in the 9th over.
Shreyas Iyer exuded calm and held one end while Surya was going berserk. Together they stitched up a fine partnership which sealed the fate of the match. Iyer was dismissed in the 12th over as he stepped out against Hosein but was stumped.
Surya fell to Dominic Drakes in the 15th over after scoring a bracing 76 off 44 balls but by then India were in a commanding position. Rishabh Pant unfurled a fine cameo to see India through. The left-hander clubbed McCoy over mid-wicket for a boundary to finish the match in 19 overs.
Earlier, India won the toss and opted to field. Kyle Mayers was in superb touch as he blasted a string of boundaries as West Indies raced to 57 in 7 overs. The all-rounder Hardik Pandya broke the alliance by cleaning up Brandon King for 20 in the 8th over. In the process, he became only the 6th Indian to grab 50 T20I wickets. Recently, he scripted history by becoming the first Indian to crack a fifty and snaffle four wickets in a T20I match against England.
Mayers remained unfazed by King’s dismissal and continued to bat fluently. The captain Nicholas Pooran played a couple of fine shots but was unusually placid. In fact, his 23-ball 22 diluted the momentum of West Indies’ innings. Mayers departed in the 17th over after making a breezy 73 off 50 balls.
Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell thumped some lusty blows in the last three overs to push West Indies to 164-5 in 20 overs, a total which proved inadequate.
The fourth match of the series will be played on Saturday.