Windies implode in series decider

CUTTACK, India (CMC):

Tail-ender Shardul Thakur lashed a late-innings cameo in a tense finish as Windies lost the plot when it mattered most, to crash to a four-wicket defeat to India in the decisive third One-Day International (ODI) here yesterday and suffer their 10th straight series defeat to the subcontinental powerhouses.

When captain Virat Kohli dragged on to seamer Keemo Paul (3-59) at the start of the 47th over for a top score of 85 off 81 balls, the match was hanging in the balance with India still requiring 30 runs from 23 balls to get up to a target of 316.

But Shardul, in only his second ODI in 15 months, then held his nerve amid increasing tension to belt two fours and a six in a heroic six-ball unbeaten 17 as India overhauled their target with eight balls to spare, and achieve the highest-ever successful run chase at Barabati Stadium.

He punched the first ball he faced from Paul to the cover boundary and in a pivotal 48th over from left-arm speedster Sheldon Cottrell which leaked 15 runs, top-edged a pull for six over long leg before whipping the next delivery to the midwicket boundary.

With just seven runs required from the last 12 balls, Thakur turned the second ball of the penultimate over from Paul to the fine leg boundary, sprinted a couple of the next delivery before a no-ball brought an anticlimactic end to the contest.

Almost unnoticed, Ravindra Jadeja finished unbeaten on 39 from 31 deliveries but it was openers KL Rahul (77) and Rohit Sharma (63) who laid the foundation with gallant half-centuries in their second consecutive century stand.

SCOREBOARD:

WINDIES

E Lewis c Saini b Jadeja 21

+S Hope b Shami 42

R Chase b Saini 38

S Hetmyer c Yadav b Saini 37

N Pooran c Jadeja b Thakur 89

*K Pollard not out 74

J Holder not out 7

Extras (lb4, w3) 7

TOTAL (5 wkts, 50 overs) 315

Did not bat: K Paul, K Pierre, A Joseph, S Cottrell

Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Lewis), 2-70 (Hope), 3-132 (Hetmyer), 4-144 (Chase), 5-279 (Pooran)

Bowling: Thakur 10-0-66-1 (w2), Shami 10-2-66-1, Saini 10-0-58-2 (w1), Yadav 10-0-67-0, Jadeja 10-0-54-1

INDIA

Rohit Sharma c wkp Hope b Holder 63

KL Rahul c wkp Hope b Joseph 77

*V Kohli b Paul 85

S Iyer c Joseph b Paul 7

+R Pant b Paul 7

K Jadhav b Cottrell 9

R Jadeja not out 39

S Thakur not out 17

Extras (lb2, w9, nb1) 12

TOTAL (6 wkts, 48.4 overs) 316

Did not bat: Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini

Fall of wickets: 1-122 (Rohit), 2-167 (Rahul), 3-188 (Iyer), 4-201 (Pant), 5-228 (Jadhav), 6-286 (Kohli)

Bowling: Cottrell 10-1-74-1 (w3), Holder 10-0-63-1, Paul 9.4-0-59-3 (nb1), Chase 4-0-19-0, Pierre 7-0-46-0, Joseph 8-0-53-1 (w2)

Result: India won by four wickets.

Series: India won three-match series 2-1.

Man-of-the-Match: Virat Kohli.

Man-of-the-Series: Rohit Sharma.

Toss: India.

Umpires: Shaun George, Nitin Menon; TV – Rod Tucker.