Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell’s blistering half centuries went in vain as West Indies went down by 8 runs against India in the third T-20 international at Kolkata on Friday.
After being put into bat by West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard, the hosts lost left hander Ishan Kishan (2) early to Sheldon Cottrell.
Rohit Sharma who was dropped on 2 by Brandon King, failed to capitalize on the opportunity as he miscued a slog off Roston Chase to King at extra cover for 19.
Suryakumar Yadav fell cheaply for 8 leaving the hosts in a spot of bother at 72/3. Former skipper Virat Kohli returned to form by scoring a fine 52 before being bowled through the gate by Chase. His knock came off 41 balls with eight fours and a six.
Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer featured in a 76 run stand for the fifth wicket before the latter was bowled by Romario Shepherd for a breezy 33.
Pant smashed a brilliant unbeaten 52 off 28 balls, as India ended up with 186/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
For West Indies Roston Chase was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/25.
Chasing 187, West Indies opening pair of Brandon King and Kyle Mayers got their side off to a solid start. The duo added 34 runs for the opening stand before Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Mayers for 9.
Ravi Bishnoi then got into the act by dismissing King (22) caught at long on by Yadav. Nicholas Pooran got a reprieve when Bishnoi dropped a catch at deep midwicket off Chahal.
Pooran along with Rovman Powell kept the visitors in hunt with a 100 run stand for the third wicket before Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke the stand by dismissing the former for 62.
With 25 needed off 6 balls, Powell smashed a couple of sixes off Harshal Patel but it wasn’t enough as the Men in Blue won the match by 8 runs and clinched the T20I series 2-0.
Rishabh Pant was declared the Man of the Match for his magnificent knock. The third and the final T20 international will be played on February 20, Sunday