Suryakumar Yadav scores 1st fifty as opener as India register easy 7-wicket win, lead series by 2-1

Rohit Sharma’s India take a 2-1 lead in the five-T20I series with a seven-wicket win over West Indies in the third T20I. Suryakumar Yadav scored his first T20I half-century as an opener after two ordinary scores in the first two games.
 

Suryakumar dominates Caribbean batters
Chasing 166, Indian skipper got retired hurt early in the powerplay overs. Due to back spasm, Rohit had to return to the pavillion after scoring 11 runs from six deliveries. Suryakumar looked to take the attack to the opposition whereas Shreyas held on to one end. In the ninth over Surya got to his half-century from just 26 deliveries.
 

Shreyas did not look comfortable and got out to left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein in the 12th over. Rishabh Pant complimented Surya well as India looked to finish the run chase early. In the 15th over, Surya got dismissed by Alzarri Joseph. He scored 76 runs from 44 deliveries including eight fours and four sixes.
 

In the 18th over, Hardik Pandya got out for a single-digit score to Jason Holder. With just 17 runs to win from 16 deliveries, Pant and Deepak Hooda did not panic. Pant finished the game with a boundary in the penultimate over with six deliveries left in the innings.
 

After taking a record-breaking six-fer in the previous game, Obed McCoy conceded 34 runs from his quota of four overs and remained wicketless.
 

Mayers’ knock helps West Indies post fighting total
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to field first. West Indies got off to a decent start. The half-centurion of the previous T20I, Brandon King got out after a run-a-ball 20. The Caribbean opener became Pandya's 50th T20I wicket. 
 

Kyle Mayers played the anchor role and shared a 50-run partnership for the second wicket. Skipper Pooran struggled to rotate the strike. Meanwhile, Mayers got to his half-century in the 13th over from 38 deliveries. Just when Pooran was looking to accelerate, Bhuvneshwar Kumar came back into the attack and got his wicket. Pooran got out after scoring 22 runs from 23 deliveries.
 

Mayers looked to score big in the slog overs. The southpaw took on Bhuvneshwar but got troubled by the change of pace and got out in the 17th over. He scored 73 runs from 50 deliveries including eight fours and four sixes.
 

Rovman Powell (14-ball 23) and Shimron Hetmyer (12-ball 20) helped West Indies post a fighting total of 164/5 on the board. Avesh Khan turned out to be the most expensive bowler as he leaked 47 runs in his three overs.