Two games, one win each. India and West Indies play the India vs West Indies 3rd T20I in Indore on Sunday evening, and the five-match series sits at 1-1. The winner takes the lead with two games still to come. The match starts at 7 PM IST at the Holkar Stadium. Star Sports will telecast it, and JioHotstar will stream it live.
Ranchi set this up
Friday’s game in Ranchi is the reason this one matters. West Indies chased down 250 to win by six wickets, the highest successful chase in their T20I history and the second-highest anyone has managed in the format. Captain Shai Hope finished unbeaten on a hundred and hit the winning six off Axar Patel.
India had made 249 for 5 after being sent in to bat. Sanju Samson’s 82 off 41 balls did most of the damage. His fifty came in 21 balls, the joint-fastest by an Indian against West Indies in this format. Ishan Kishan made 43 off 22, Shreyas Iyer 40 off 18, and Tilak Varma finished 44 not out off 18. India took 87 runs from the last six overs.
For a while it looked like none of that would matter. Mayank Yadav’s first over broke the chase open: Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer fell in it, then Rovman Powell to a 149.5kph delivery. At 58 for 3, West Indies needed 192 more. Hope steadied the innings first, reaching his fifty in 24 balls, and Sherfane Rutherford joined in with 78 off 32. West Indies finished on 252 for 4 in 18.3 overs. Nine balls to spare.
What Indore brings
The Holkar Stadium hosts its first game of the series. The forecast is for clear skies, so the full forty overs should get played. After the 501 runs in Ranchi, neither bowling attack will walk out relaxed. India’s bowlers went around the park in the second game. Kuldeep Yadav, usually the most reliable of the lot, finished with 1 for 53. West Indies will back their batters to do it again.
India vs West Indies 3rd T20I: the squads
India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav.
West Indies: Shai Hope (captain), Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Kamil Pooran, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Springer.
The one real selection question for India is the balance of the attack. Mayank Yadav’s pace broke the game open early in Ranchi, and West Indies still got home with more than an over left. Whether India sticks with the same combination or brings in the extra spin option is the call Shreyas Iyer has to make.
The recent history between them
India have the better record in this format: 20 wins to West Indies’ 10 from 31 T20Is, with one no-result. The last time the two sides met before this tour was the T20 World Cup Super Eight game at Eden Gardens in March, which India won by five wickets. India also won the ODI leg of this tour 2-1 before the T20Is began.
Lucknow went India’s way, Ranchi went West Indies’ way, and both teams have now seen exactly what the other can do. Indore decides who takes the lead into the last two games.