West Indies skipper Rovman Powell admitted they were 10-15 runs short of a par score after suffering a seven-wicket loss in the third T20I against India at the Providence Stadium, Guyana on Tuesday. West Indies posted 159 runs on the board after electing to bat first.
The home team was given a good start as Kyle Mayers and Brandon King added 55 runs for the opening partnership. However, the hosts could not change gears in the middle overs.
The in-form Nicholas Pooran was dismissed for only 20 runs after he was stumped on the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav and it was a crucial moment in the first innings. Kuldeep was the pick of the Indian bowlers, picking 3-28 in his quota of four overs after returning to the playing XI.
The Windies scored 53 runs in the last five overs with their skipper Rovman Powell adding the finishing touches with a quickfire knock of 19-ball 40.
However, India won by seven wickets and with 13 balls to spare after Suryakumar Yadav played a piece de resistance knock of 83 runs off just 44 balls. Furthermore, rookie batter Tilak Varma continued his good show, scoring an unbeaten 49 runs in the run-chase.
Rovman Powell said in the post-match presentation, “We were 10-15 runs short. But having said that, credit to the batting unit especially the opening partnership, that’s the kind of start that we asked for.”
Meanwhile, Rovman Powell said they wanted to back Johnson Charles at one down despite Nicholas Pooran being in top form after their openers gave them a steady start.
He added, “In hindsight, you can say that (sending Pooran at number 3) but we wanted to give Charles an opportunity, we know what Pooran can do and what kind of form he is in. We bowled with too much pace on the ball and that made it easy for the Indian batters. We have a few days gap and we have to come up with better plans.”
West Indies will want to come up with a collective batting performance in the next two matches. The fourth T20I between these two teams will be played on Saturday at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida.
