IND vs WI T20I: India beat West Indies by 7 wickets to stay alive in the series

Providence (Guyana), Aug 8

Suryakumar Yadav was back to his best as India stayed alive in the series with a seven-wicket win over West Indies in the third T20I of their five-match series here today.

West Indies skipper Rovman Powell’s whirlwind 40 not out off 19 balls pushed the hosts to 159/5 after Kuldeep Yadav (3/28) stemmed the flow of runs in the middle overs.

Debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal (1) and Shubman Gill (6) got out cheaply in the run chase before Suryakumar came up with a special 83 off 44 balls to help India chase down the target in 17.5 overs.

Tilak Varma (49 not out off 37) was happy to play second fiddle to his senior Mumbai Indians’ teammate in their 87-run stand. Varma missed his second straight fifty in his debut series as skipper Hardik Pandya (20 not out off 15) hit the winning six.

West Indies lead the five-match series 2-1 with the next game to be played in Lauderhill, Florida, on Saturday.

Suryakumar, who had a quiet tour up till now, flicked his first ball for a boundary. It is almost impossible to stop Suryakumar when he is finding the gaps at will and that is what West Indies bowlers had to endure today.

His innings comprised 10 fours and four sixes with the highlight being the picture-perfect straight hit over pacer Obed McCoy’s head.

Brief scores: West Indies: 159/5 in 20 overs (King 42, Powell 40*; Kuldeep 3/28); India: 164/3 in 17.5 overs (Suryakumar 83; Joseph 2/25).