Windies forced into series decider

CMC – West Indies’ hopes of closing out their Twenty20 International series against India hit a snag when openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill cracked half-centuries and shared a record-equalling opening stand to give the visitors a record-breaking nine-wicket win on Saturday in the United States.

The Caribbean side was unable to make inroads into the Indian batting in defence of a target of 179, and Jaiswal hit an unbeaten 84 to earn the Player-of-the-Match award, and Gill made 77 on a hard, easy-paced Central Broward Regional Park pitch in sweltering conditions to carry their side to a crucial win in the penultimate T20I of the five-match series.

The West Indies bowlers were guilty of inconsistent bowling, and Jaiswal, playing in only his second T20I, and Gill had an easy ride, sharing 165 for the first wicket to tie the highest opening stand in this format for their side set by Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul against Sri Lanka six years ago in the Indian city of Indore.

The hosts knew they were going to endure a hard grind when Jaiswal and Gill collected 66 from the Power Play and the match was genuinely over when the two openers carried India to 100 without loss at the halfway stage of the chase.

Pacer Romario Shepherd formalised the result with 18 balls remaining when he delivered two wides hand India their fifth consecutive T20I win at the venue, while condemning West Indies to their eighth successive defeat in the format at the ground.

“I think there is quality bowling in our unit, and it’s just that we didn’t stick to our plans,” West Indies captain Rovman Powell said. “No matter who is bowling, if you don’t stick your plans, you will always find yourself under pressure when you’re bowling to quality batters.”

The win for India levels the series 2-2 and sets up a grand finale on Sunday at the same venue, after West Indies won the first T20I by four runs two Thursdays ago at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, and the second T20I by two wickets two Sundays ago at the National Cricket Stadium in Guyana, where the visitors won the third T20I by seven wickets this past Tuesday.

“Both teams have played really good cricket to reach 2-2,” Powell said. “(Sunday) is like a final, and in a final, I will back West Indies every time. Hopefully, we can come out on top.”

Powell worked all the permutations with his bowlers in an effort to find the breakthrough, but to no avail.

He resorted to bringing himself into the attack in the 11th over to bowl his modest medium pace, and the two Indian openers used the opportunity to move past the half-century mark.

Gill cut Powell’s second ball to deep backward point for two to reach his 50 off 31 balls, and Jaiswal made good use of a free hit off his fourth delivery to scoop the ball to deep backward square leg for his ninth four and reach the landmark from 33 balls.

The Caribbean side thought they had Gill, on 62, when umpire Leslie Reifer Jr adjudged him lbw to pacer Odean Smith, but the Indian opener successfully reviewed, and he continued merrily along with Jaiswal to take their side to the brink.

Pacer Romario Shepherd got Gill caught at deep mid-wicket in the 16th over, but 14 were needed, and Jaiswal and Tilak Varma had no trouble wiping off the remaining runs to give India their easiest T20I win against the home team in terms of balls left.

Earlier, Shimron Hetmyer defied the heat to hit a purposeful 61 and lead West Indies to 178 for eight from their allocation of 20 overs after they chose to bat, but Powell felt his side had come up a bit short in the batting.

“From the start of the series, we always knew it was always going to come down to batting the spin,” he said.

“We did not bat it very well (this match) in the Power Play, and in the middle overs, we found ourselves with four wickets down. If we can keep on as a batting group improving on that, and batting the spin good, we will do well.”

Hetmyer and One-day International captain Shai Hope, playing for the first time in the series, stabilised the innings with a stand of 49 for the fifth wicket, after the Caribbean side stumbled to 57 for four in the seventh over.

Hope made 45 before he was caught at long-on off leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, trying to clear the fielder on the boundary in the 13th over.

Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder fell cheaply, and West Indies wobbled to 123 for seven, but Hetmyer dominated the final five overs to reach his 50 from 35 balls and help them gather 57 in the final phase of the innings.

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