Suryakumar Yadav put up a remarkable effort in a game that India had to win, leading his team to a 7-wicket victory over the West Indies in the third T20I of the five-match series at Providence Stadium in Guyana. India reached their goal of 160 runs with 13 balls left thanks to the right-handed batter’s 83 runs off 44 deliveries. West Indies, who won the toss and chose to bat first, managed to put on 159/5, partly due to captain Rovman Powell, who gave the West Indies team a solid finish.
West Indies scored the best first innings total in the series so far, with Powell remaining unbeaten on 40 from 19 deliveries. That, however, was insufficient since Suyakumar, who entered at position three when debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal left after the first over alone, had other plans. The Mumbai Indians player was in excellent form and started attacking the opposition with his first two balls, scoring a four and a six.
India had scored 121 runs by the time Suryakumar left in the 13th over and needed 39 runs to win off 44 balls, or less than a ball when the required run rate at the commencement was 8. A special mention should also be made of Varma’s performance because while the left-hander was content to be second fiddle, he did take opportunities when he believed the ball to be in his area. He was close to reaching his second half-century of the campaign in as many games, but Hardik Pandya ended the game with a six when Varma was still unbeaten at 49.
Kuldeep Yadav, who took Ravi Bishnoi’s spot in the starting lineup, earlier became the team’s top wicket-taker in the contest, ending with a total of 3 for 28. Axar Patel was the other wicket-taker for the side, ending with stats of 1 for 24 from his 4 overs. Mukesh Kumar bowled 2 overs towards the end and gave up 18 runs for his 1 wicket. Obed McCoy of West Indies dismissed Jaiswal (1) in the first over itself, then Alzarri Joseph of West Indies removed Shubman Gill (6) during the powerplay before coming back to claim Suryakumar.
