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CHENNAI: Nicholas Pooran smashed his maiden Twenty20 International half-century to guide West Indies to 181 for three in their bid for a consolation win against India on Sunday.
Pooran, who made 53 off 25 deliveries, put on a key 87-run unbeaten stand with Darren Bravo, who made 43, to give the tourists a competitive total in the third game at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The Carlos Brathwaite-led side, which has already lost the series after trailing 0-2, won the toss and elected to bat first.
The left-handed Pooran, who is playing just his fifth match, came in to bat with West Indies in a bit of trouble at 94-3 but took the attack to the opposition bowlers.
He hit four fours and fours sixes during his blitz, with Hope at the other end playing a calculated 37-ball knock.
Openers Shai Hope, who made 24, and Shimron Hetmyer, who hit 26, gave the West Indies a strong start with their 51-run partnership before Yuzvendra Chahal struck back for the hosts. Chahal got Hope on his very first delivery and then cut short Hetmyer’s brisk knock to check the opposition surge. The leg-spinner returned figures of 2-28.
But Pooran and Bravo ensured their team got 64 runs in the last five overs as they hit the bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES:
S.D. Hope c Sundar b Chahal 24
S.O. Hetmyer c Pandya b Chahal 26
D.M. Bravo not out 43
D. Ramdin b Sundar 15
N. Pooran not out 53
EXTRAS (LB-4, W-16) 20
TOTAL (for three wkts, 20 overs) 181
FALL OF WKTS: 1-51, 2-62, 3-94.
DID NOT BAT: K.A. Pollard, C.R. Brathwaite, F.A. Allen, K.M.A. Paul, K. Pierre, O. Thomas.
BOWLING: Khaleel Ahmed 4-0-37-0 (2w); Washington Sundar 4-0-33-1 (8w); Kumar 4-0-39-0; Pandya 4-0-40-0 (3w); Chahal 4-0-28-2 (3w).
INDIA: R. Sharma, S. Dhawan, K.L. Rahul, R.R. Pant, M.K. Pandey, K.D. Karthik, K.H. Pandya, Washington Sundar, B. Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Y.S. Chahal.
UMPIRES: C. Shamshuddin (India) and A.K. Chaudhary (India).
TV UMPIRE: C.K. Nandan (India).
MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).
Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018
