WI vs IND, 4th T20I, Review: Ruthless India hammer West Indies by 59 runs to seal the series

Rishabh Pant played an important innings for India

A comprehensive all-round performance has helped the Rohit Sharma-led Team India bag yet another bilateral T20I series as the tourists thumped the West Indies by 59 runs on Saturday to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-match series.

Batting first, Rohit (33 off 16) and Suryakumar Yadav (24 off 14) got India off to flier as the duo hammered 53 runs in just 4.4 overs.

Rohit looked in his element as he smashed three sixes and two fours to race his way to a 16-ball 33 but a wild hook across the line off Akeal Hosein (1-28 in 4 overs) led to his downfall.

Surya picked up from where he left off at Warner Park as the right-hander once again played some eye-catching strokes in his 14-ball 24 before getting trapped LBW by Alzarri Joseph, who also dismissed Deepak Hooda later in the innings.

India smashed 65 runs during the powerplay and while back-to-back dismissals of Rohit and Surya had an effect on the scoring rate, Rishabh Pant (44 off 31) forged useful partnerships with Deepak Hooda  (21 off 19) and Sanju Samson (30* off 23) to keep the innings afloat.

Obed McCoy did dismiss Pant and then Dinesh Karthik but not before he was taken to the cleaners by the Indians. The left-arm seamer ended up conceding 66 runs in his quota of 4 overs.

On a surface that was a bit slow, Samson failed to bat with any sort of momentum during his 23-ball stay but Axar Patel's late blitz (20* off 8) powered India to a commanding 191/5 in 20. 

WI v IND: Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh too hot to handle for the West Indies batters

Chasing 192 on a slow surface, the West Indies knew that they had to go hard in the powerplay and that is exactly what they did by scoring 61 runs in that period.

But, the problem was that they lost three wickets- Brandon King, Devon Thomas and Nicholas Pooran- in the process.

King (13 off 8) set the tone by smashing three fours off his first 7 deliveries but, in an attempt to check his shot, he ended up chipping it straight to Avesh Khan, who completed a simple return catch.

Avesh, who had endured a horror outing on the tour thus far, finally had a good day at the office as he gave away just 17 runs in his 4 overs besides dismissing Devon Thomas, in addition to King.

Pooran came out all guns blazing as he smoked Axar for a four and 3 sixes before a poor miscommunication with Kyle Mayers led to his demise. Axar then proceeded to dismiss Mayers to sink the West Indies deeper and from thereon, the only way for them was down.

Rovman Powell did smash a couple of sixes and a four in his 16-ball 24 but his constant obsession of smashing Axar down the ground led to his demise.

Shimron Hetmyer (19 off 19) and Akeal Hosein perished to Ravi Bishnoi (2-27 in 4) before Arshdeep Singh (3-12 in 3.1) dished out a yorker masterclass to mop up the tail and hand his side a 59-run win.

Both sides will play the final T20I on Sunday.

Brief Scores:

India 191/5 (20)

Rishabh Pant 44 (31), Rohit Sharma 33 (16), Axar Patel 20* (8)

Akeal Hosein 1/28 (4), Alzarri Joseph 2-29

West Indies 132/10 (19.1)

Nicholas Pooran 24 (8), Rovman Powell 24 (16)

 Arshdeep Singh 3/12 (3.1), Avesh Khan 2/17 (4)

Result: India won by 59 runs & take a 3-1 lead (5)

Also Read: Rohit Sharma racks up yet another record