India recorded their first-ever whitewash of the West Indies in their bilateral ODI history by winning the third and final ODI by a huge margin of 96 runs, on Friday at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. After setting a challenging total of 266 runs for the Caribbean team to win, India bowled out the visitors for just 169 and 37.1 overs to record their third consecutive win in the format to take the series 3-0.
Shreyas Iyer scored 80 whereas explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant returned to the middle-order to score a fine 56, as the two Indian batsmen added 110 runs for the fourth wicket to solidify for their side, after their top order was blown away.
Rohit Sharma could not build on his half-century that he scored in the first match of the series, once again, as the Indian captain was caught behind after scoring 13. Shikhar Dhawan followed his captain soon, edging one behind in the first slip to be caught for 10 from 26 balls with just one six.
Virat Kohli had entered the series with high expectations of breaking his string of disappointing scores, for he has had significant success against the West Indies in the recent past. However, the former India captain has had to endure a tough few months which has witnessed him losing the captaincy job across formats and its ordinary form with the bat only stretching further.
As luck would have it, the batting maestro chased one down on the leg side to be caught behind for a second-ball duck of West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph. The Caribbean side had once again reduced India to a paltry score with their top three batsmen removed from the equation and the onus was on the middle-order to build their side out of trouble.
This was when the pair of Iyer and Pant got together to solidify for India. Both these batsmen survived initial probing spells from the West Indies bowlers, particularly Jason Holder, who was looking ominous. Iyer did well particularly against the former West Indies captain, who was almost unplayable in one of the spells that he bowled.
After they had weathered the storm, both Iyer and Pant opened up to punish the West Indies bowlers with exquisite strokeplay all round the park. Iyer was unfortunate to have missed out on his deserving century, falling for 80 from 111 balls with the help of 9 boundaries. On the other hand, the flamboyant Pant cracked 6 boundaries and a six to make 56 from 54 balls before being dismissed by Hayden Walsh, who also took the wicket of Iyer.
The remainder of Indian batsmen did well to take their side to a competitive total of 265 from 50 overs, with all-rounder Washington Sundar score in almost a run-a-ball 33 with the help of 2 boundaries and a six. Deepak Chahar once again proved his credentials with the bat, scoring 38 from as many deliveries with the help of four boundaries and two sixes.
For the West Indies, Holder returned with a superb spell of 8-1-34-4 whereas Joseph took 2/54 from his 10 overs. Walsh was expensive as well, giving away 59 runs for his 2 wickets whereas Smith and Fabian Allen grabbed 1 wicket apiece.
The West Indies needed a strong batting performance in order to avoid a series whitewash but their top-order failed once again. The top four West Indies batsmen contributed a grand total of 38 runs with Shamarh Brooks scoring a three-ball duck whereas others and Shai Hope (5), Brandon King (14) and Darren Bravo (19) failing to convert their starts once again.
The standing-in West Indies captain Nicolas Pooran tried to weather the storm with a 39-ball 34 but his effort was not going to be enough given how the top-order had performed. The West Indies were at one stage reduced to 82/7 but their tail end batsmen did well to take their side as far as 169 from 37.1 overs.
Alzarri Joseph batted incredibly well, showing a lot of application and discipline to face 56 balls and make 29 runs with the help of a couple of sixes and a boundary. On the other hand, Walsh was also watchful in his innings, scoring 13 from 38 balls but Smith dazzled with aggressive strokeplay, clobbering 3 sixes and as many boundaries to make 36 from 18 balls.
No amount of the late resistance from the West Indies batsmen could have any impact on the outcome of the match as India stormed to a 96-run victory to complete a 3-0 whitewash. Mohammed Siraj returned with an impressive 9-1-29-3 whereas Prasidh Krishna was not too far behind, returning with 8.1-1-27-3. Deepak Chahar took 2/41 from his 8 overs while Kuldeep Yadav was expensive and his spell of 8 overs, taking 2/51.
The two teams will now move to Kolkata where they will face off in a three-match T20I series starting on February 16 at the iconic Eden Gardens.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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