Heavy defeat for Windies as India sweep ODI series

AHMEDABAD, India (CMC):

Another insipid performance with the bat saw West Indies suffer their first-ever series whitewash to India on the subcontinent, as they plunged to a 96-run defeat in the third One-Day International (ODI) here Friday.

Asked to chase 266 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, West Indies were dismissed for 169 in the 38th over, failing to pass 200 yet again for the series, following totals of 176 in the opener and 193 in Tuesday’s second game.

Number nine Odean Smith top-scored with a dashing 18-ball 36 while captain Nicholas Pooran got 34 and number eight Alzarri Joseph, 29, but no other batsman passed 20 as the Caribbean side struggled from the outset and never really recovered after slumping to 82 for seven in the 19th over.

Man-of-the-Series Prasidh Krishna once again spearheaded the attack with three for 27 while fellow seamer Mohammed Siraj claimed three for 29. New-ball pacer Deepak Chahar (2-41) and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav (2-51) supported with two wickets apiece.

The series defeat marked the third on the trot for West Indies, following on from the shock result to Ireland in Jamaica last month and the loss to Australia in Barbados last July.

DIFFICULT

“I’m not one to show the emotion [but] this one is difficult. I think the last six games have been difficult in this format,” head coach Phil Simmonds said.

“We started putting things together last year when we played Sri Lanka.

“It was difficult against Australia but we started putting things together, and, for this to come now, it’s hard to take. It’s hard to swallow from the batsmen.

“Though it’s not outwardly showing, it’s hurtful …”

Not for the first time in the series, West Indies’ bowlers produced a disciplined effort to dismiss India for 265 off their 50 overs after being asked to field, with all-rounder Jason Holder capturing four for 34, and fellow pacer Joseph (2-54) and leg-spinner Hayden Walsh (2-59) claiming two wickets apiece.

And, not for the first time either, India found themselves tottering early when Joseph struck twice to reduce them to 42 for three in the 10th over, the right-armer bowling captain Rohit Sharma (13) middle stump off the inside edge in the fourth over and then removing the dangerous Virat Kohli two balls later without scoring to a leg-side catch behind.

However, Man-of-the-Match Shreyas Iyer top-scored with 80 from 111 deliveries and left-hander Rishabh Pant punched an attacking 56 off 54 balls, to pull their side out of trouble, posting 110 for the fourth wicket.

Iyer struck nine fours and Pant notched half-dozen fours and a six before both fell to Walsh in a slide that saw India lose three wickets for 35 runs, to stumble to 187 for six in the 38th over.

Holder returned at the back end to knock over the last four wickets for 15 runs, with two scalps coming in the final over.

West Indies then stumbled early when Shai Hope played back to Mohammed Siraj and was leg before wicket for five in the fourth over at 19 for one.

And when Chahar removed Brandon King (14) to a low catch at second slip by Suryakumar Yadav in the next over and then claimed Shamarh Brooks three balls later, scooping to point without scoring, the visitors were in disarray at 25 for three.

Pooran, who faced 39 balls and struck two fours and a six, added 43 for the fourth wicket with Darren Bravo (19) to hint at a recovery before Krishna and Kuldeep combined for the next four wickets to rip the heart out of the innings.SCOREBOARD

INDIA

*R. Sharma b Joseph 13

S. Dhawan c Holder b Smith 10

V. Kohli c wkp Hope b Joseph 0

S. Iyer c Bravo b Walsh 80

+R. Pant c wkp Hope b Walsh 56

S. Yadav c Brooks b Allen 6

W. Sundar c Smith b Holder 33

D. Chahar c wkp Hope b Holder 38

Kuldeep Yadav c wkp Hope b Holder 5

M. Siraj b Holder 4

P. Krishna not out 0

Extras (lb1, w18, nb1) 20

TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 265

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Rohit), 2-16 (Kohli), 3-42 (Dhawan), 4-152 (Pant), 5-164 (Suryakumar), 6-187 (Iyer), 7-240 (Chahar), 8-250 (Kuldeep), 9-261 (Sundar), 10-265 (Siraj)

Bowling: Roach 7-0-39-0 (w3), Joseph 10-1-54-2 (w6), Smith 7-0-36-1 (w7, nb1), Holder 8-1-34-4 (w1), Allen 8-0-42-1, Walsh 10-0-59-2 (w1).

WEST INDIES

+S. Hope lbw b Mohammed Siraj 5

B. King c Suryakumar b Chahar 14

D. Bravo c Kohli b Krishna 19

S. Brooks c Iyer b Chahar 0

*N. Pooran c Rohit b Kuldeep 34

J. Holder c Rohit b Krishna 6

F. Allen c wkp Pant b Kuldeep 0

A. Joseph c Kohli b Krishna 29

O. Smith c Dhawan b Mohammed Siraj 36

H. Walsh c Rohit b Mohammed Siraj 13

K. Roach not out 0

Extras (lb4, w9) 13

TOTAL (all out, 37.1) 169

Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Hope), 2-25 (King), 3-25 (Brooks), 4-68 (Bravo), 5-76 (Holder), 6-77 (Allen), 7-82 (Pooran), 8-122 (Smith), 9-169 (Walsh), 10-169 (Joseph)

Bowling: Chahar 8-1-41-2 (w1), Mohammed Siraj 9-1-29-3 (w2), Krishna 8.1-1-27-3 (w1), Kuldeep 8-0-51-2 (w2), Sundar 4-0-17-0 (w2).

Result: India won by 96 runs.

Series: India won three-match series 3-0.

Man-of-the-Match: Shreyas Iyer.

Man-of-the-Series: Prasidh Krishna.

Toss: India.

Umpires: Anil Chaudhary, Nitin Menon; TV – K Ananthapadmanabhan.