Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran completed the job that was started by Romario Shepherd as West Indies defeated India by nine wickets in the 5th T20I at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida. As a result, Rovman Powell-led Men in Maroon clinched the five-match series against Hardik Pandya-led Men in Blue by a margin of 3-2. In a game that was stopped multiple times due to rain and lightning, Windies made a comeback after losing consecutive matches to upset India.
Chasing a target of 166 runs, opening batter King played a fabulous knock and rolled out Windies' road to victory. After losing his opening partner Kyle Mayers (10 runs off five balls) early, King stitched a fantastic partnership with in-form Nicholas Pooran that ultimately turned out to be decisive. King remained unbeaten on 85 runs off 55 balls while Pooran missed out on a half-century but scored 47 runs off 35 balls. The duo forged an alliance of 107 runs for the second wicket.
King smashed five fours and six sixes while Pooran whacked one four and four sixes. Shai Hope (22 runs off 13 balls) finished the game in style by depositing Yashasvi Jaiswal's delivery for a six. The Men in Maroon chased down the target with two balls to spare.
For India, Arshdeep Singh and Tilak Varma bagged a wicket each. Yuzvendra Chahal was the most expensive Indian bowler as the veteran leg-spinner conceded 51 runs in four overs.
Earlier, Hardik won the toss, and surprisingly, he elected to bat first. Suryakumar Yadav smashed yet another half-century and helped India post a competitive total of 165/9 on the board. In what appeared as a sluggish track, Suryakumar smashed four fours and three sixes.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) and Shubman Gill (9) failed to give India an ideal start at the top of the order. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein dismissed both the Indian openers and gave West Indies the perfect start.
Tilak Varma (27 runs off 18 balls) looked fluent once again but Roston Chase's acrobatic effort off his own bowling ended the southpaw's innings. Sanju Samson (13 runs off 9 balls) bottled yet another opportunity to solidify his place in the playing XI. Hardik (14 runs off 18 balls) struggled for timing throughout his stay in the middle. Axar Patel (13) and Mukesh Kumar, who hit a final ball boundary, pushed India to a par score.
For the Men in Maroon, Romario Shepherd was the pick of all bowlers as he finished with figures of 4/31 in four overs. Hosein and Jason Holder bagged two wickets each while Chase chipped in with a wicket.
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