India beat WI by 4 wickets in 3rd ODI, win series 2-1

Speed Post News Network

Patna : India beat West Indies (WI) by 4 wickets in a high scoring match in the 3rd ODI at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, Odisha, on December 22, 2019, to win the three-match series 2-1 though WI ran them close in both T20I and ODI series .Replying to WI’s 315/5 in 50 overs, India scored 316/6 in 48.4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja (39 not out) and Shardul Thakur (17 not out) steered India to victory. Jadeja and Thakur added 30 runs in 16 balls in their unbroken partnership for the 7th wicket. Jadeja’s knock was very significant.

Thakur hit fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell for a six and a four on successive balls in his 10th over to bring India closer to the target. Jadeja hit Keemo Paul for a four and then hit 2 runs in his 10th over to level the score. India romped home via a no a ball. The crowd was stunned into silence when Captain Virat Kohli fell to Keemo Paul for 85 in 81 balls with 9 fours on the first ball of 47th over.

Openers Rohit Sharma and Lokesh Rahul added 122 runs for the first wicket, their 5th century stand for first wicket, all in 2019. Rohit fell to Jason Holder for 63 in 63 balls with 8 fours a six making it 122/1. Rahul fell to fast medium bowler Alzarri Joseph for 77 in 89 balls with  8 fours and a six making it 167/2. Shreyas Iyer fell to Keemo Paul for 7. Rishabh Pant (wk) also fell to Paul for 7 and it was 201/4. Kedar Jadhav fell to Sheldon Cottrell for 9 and it was 228/5. Kohli and Jadeja added 58 runs for the 6th wicket. Kohli fell to Paul making it 286/6.

For WI, captain Kieron Pollard scored an unbeaten 74 in 51 balls with 3 fours and 7 sixes while Nicholas Pooran (wk) scored 89 in 64 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes. WI hit 12 sixes in the match while India hit only 3 sixes.

Virat Kohli was declared Play of the Match while Rohit Sharma was declared Player of the Series.