India beat West Indies in last-ball thriller to sweep T20 series
Opener Dhawan leads chase with a brilliant 92 in thrilling game
Chennai: India recorded a clean sweep against West Indies in the three-match T20 international series in a last-ball thriller here last night.
In the final match, India chasing a stiff target of 182 to win, were led by a brilliant 92 by opener Shikhar Dhawan.
The hosts finished at 182 for four in 20 overs to win by six wickets.
The young Rishabh Pant, coming in at No. 3, staked his claim for a regular berth, with a fine 58 off 38 balls.
Earlier, a combined batting show helped West Indies post a challenging total of 181 for three. The visitors’ batsmen applied themselves perfectly and made sure they did not loose wickets till the end which saw middle-order batsmen Darren Bravo (43 not out) and Nicholas Pooran (53 not out) taking the charge towards the end, helping their team to post a decent score.
Opting to bat, openers Shai Hope (24) and Shimron Hetmyer (26) started the proceedings on a good note, forging a 51-run partnership in six overs. But while trying to accelerate the scoring, Hope was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal in the seventh over.
After adding 11 more runs to the total with Bravo, Hetmyer was also sent packing by Chahal. Despite two quick wickets, Bravo kept on playing sensibly with Denesh Ramdin (15) before the latter was bowled.
New batsman Pooran then joined Bravo in the middle and started punishing the bad balls. The duo forged a crucial unbeaten 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket.