India’s young opener Shubman Gill was unlucky to miss out on a maiden century but the side rode on his sublime 98 to outclass the West Indies by 119 runs and complete a 3-0 rout in the ODI series at the Port of Spain on Thursday (July 28) morning.
In a rain-affected final ODI, India scored 225 for 3 in 36 overs, courtesy of Gill's career-best knock and another half-century from skipper Shikhar Dhawan (58 off 74 balls).
The revised D/L target of 257 from 35 overs was a tricky one but Mohammed Siraj's (2/14 in 3 overs) near-perfect first over with the new ball set the tone as the Caribbean side only managed only 137 in 26 overs.
Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (4/17 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (1/38 in 6 overs) and seamer Shardul Thakur (2/17 in 5 overs) were also at their best admirably on a slowish surface as Brandon King (42 off 37 balls) and Nicholas Pooran's (42 off 32 balls) contributions were never going to be enough.
Unlucky Shubman Gill
India were 115 for 1 in 24 overs when there was the first stoppage due to rain, but once the play resumed, the visitors suddenly upped the ante, smashing 110 runs in the next 12 overs as Gill looked good for his maiden ton, which was not to be.
However, Gill would have little complaints having scored 205 runs in three games with scores of 64, 43 and 98 not out.
The disappointment was written on Gill's face when it started drizzling for the second time and he would curse himself for not speeding things up after entering the nervous 90s.
The Gujarat Titans batter went in two different gears during the course of the innings. Before the rain break, he was more of an accumulator while he scythed through the Caribbean attack once play resumed before once again tapering off towards the landmark.
Nonetheless, no one can take the credit away from what has been a sublime knock and his stand-out shots will be -- two sixes off leg-spinner Hayden Walsh and a picture-perfect off-drive off pacer Jayden Seales' bowling.
Skippers innings
Skipper Dhawan, who has been India's highest run-getter in the format during the last two years, also showed why he is still indispensable in this format.
Dhawan and Gill added 113 for the opening stand, their second hundred-plus partnership in the series, with the left-hander notching up his second half-century (58 off 74 balls) following his 97 in the opening game.
Dhawan's innings had seven fours, while Gill had seven fours and two sixes till 36th over.
Bowlers shine for India
In a chase of 257 in 36 overs, the scorecard reading 0 for 2 is always a bad omen and West Indies never recovered from that setback.
The normally consistent Shai Hope (22) was stumped by Sanju Samson off Chahal's bowling, while King after some breathtaking shots was beaten by an arm-ball from Patel.
The match was over by then but the resistance completely ended when Prasidh Krishna forced Pooran to go for a pull to a delivery that was fast and bouncy. The resultant catch was gleefully accepted by Dhawan as West Indies fizzled out without a fight.
