Indore, Oct 11 (SocialNews.XYZ) Abhishek Sharma top-scored with 69 off 30 balls before a late wobble led to India being bowled out for 223 in 20 overs against West Indies in the third T20I here at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.
In front of 24,000-plus fans, Abhishek’s blistering fifty, laced with six fours and five sixes, as well as an aggressive 108-run stand with Ishan Kishan had India on course for a score close to 250. But losing wickets at regular intervals, with several of them coming via soft dismissals and mix-ups, allowed the visitors to claw their way back and kept India to a total that looked well short of what they had threatened to post.
Pushed into batting first, India made only 11 runs in the first two overs. After Roston Chase bowled the opening over and gave away four runs, Shamar Joseph removed Sanju Samson in the second over, as the opener mistimed a flick off a 150.8 kmph delivery to mid-wicket for three.
Abhishek Sharma then changed the complexion of the innings. He opened up against Chase in the third over, driving inside-out through cover-point for his first boundary, before lofting another inside-out drive over cover for six and ended the over with a second six going over point.
After Ishan Kishan hit Keemo Paul for three fours, Shamar Springer's fifth over was taken apart by him and Abhishek. A chip over point for four by Kishan was followed by Abhishek lofting two successive balls over cover for four before slamming a length delivery over the same region for six, as 21 runs came off it.
21 more runs came off Joseph's next over, beginning with a cut by Ishan for four. Abhishek followed it up with a six over cover and then chipped a four over mid-wicket followed. A pull to the right of deep mid-wicket fetched him two runs to complete his 14th T20I fifty off 18 balls.
Abhishek then backed away and squeezed a four past point, as India ended the power-play at 87/1. During the course of his fifty, Abhishek became the fastest batter to reach 2,000 T20I runs in terms of balls faced (1,024) during his innings. He and Kishan continued to hit boundaries till the West Indies brought a twist in the game.
Chase ended the 108-run second-wicket stand in the ninth over when he cramped a stepping out Kishan for room with an incoming delivery and Shai Hope stumped him from behind. Chase later trapped skipper Shreyas Iyer lbw for one in the same over, before Abhishek fell for 69 by top-edging a pull to Shamar Springer, who took the return catch and Gudakesh Motie got his 50th T20I wicket when Naman Dhir holed out to long-off.
With India in a spot of bother, Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy tried rebuilding the innings by hitting two fours each off Joseph in the 13th over, before the latter was caught behind off Paul for 21. After that, India were dealt a double blow by mix-ups – believing that Axar Patel's flick off Gudakesh had gone for four, he bumped fists with Varma while returning for the second run.
But Kamil Pooran had kept the ball in play at deep square leg, and Shai Hope's throw to Motie found Varma well short of his crease to dismiss him for 28. Axar himself fell to a run-out when he pushed a Springer delivery to point and showed no interest in a run, only to find Arshdeep Singh already halfway down the pitch. Axar set off belatedly, but Paul and Springer combined to complete the run-out and dismiss him for 20.
After Arshdeep was trapped lbw by Springer, Prince Yadav added valuable runs to India’s score by heaving, scooping and edging Joseph for three boundaries, before the pacer ended the innings by castling Mayank Yadav with a pacy yorker.
Brief Scores: India 223 all out in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 69, Ishan Kishan 37; Roston Chase 2-38, Shamar Springer 2-50) against West Indies.
Source: IANS
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