Navdeep Saini, who was handed his maiden ODI cap prior, was the pick of the bowlers and ended with figures of 2 for 57 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
West Indies' cricket captain Kieron Pollard (R) speaks with teammate Nicholas Pooran during a practice session at the M.A. Chidambaram Cricket Stadium ahead of the first one day international (ODI) cricket match of a three-match series between India and West Indies in Chennai on December 14, 2019. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
In the much-anticipated third and final ODI match of the India-West Indies series, the men from the Caribbean Islands have given India a target of 316 runs to win the match and the series 2-1.
Nicholas Pooran and skipper Kieron Pollard were the stars of the show as far as West Indies batting are concerned. While Pooran scored 89 of 64 balls, Pollard scored 74 of 51 balls to help West Indies score a mammoth 315/5 after they made a relatively cautious start to the innings.
Navdeep Saini, who was handed his maiden ODI cap prior, was the pick of the bowlers and ended with figures of 2 for 57 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with a wicket each.
Advertisement
However, Kuldeep Yadav, who had the opportunity to become the joint-fastest to reach 100 ODI wickets milestone went wicketless and conceded 67 runs in his spell.
India’s catching woes continued and particularly Rishabh Pant had a forgettable day behind the stumps dropping quite a few chances in the course of the West Indies innings.
Although India would need more than a run a ball right from the word go, the wicket is a batting-friendly one and Virat Kohli and company would fancy their chances of winning the match and the series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Notably, this is the last ODI of 2019 and star batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are on the brim of massive International records. It remains to be seen if they are successfully able to reach their individual milestones and guide India to yet another series win.
Advertisement
