King, Pooran shine as WI rout India in final T20, win series

Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran played whirlwind knocks to steer West Indies to an eight-wicket victory over India in the fifth and the final T20 match on Sunday.

Chasing166 to win, West Indies got off to a faltering start as they lost the wicket of Kyle Mayers with just 10 runs on the board.

But King and Pooran played sheet-anchor role as they shared a 107-run partnership for the second wicket to all but end India’s hope of a series win.

They brought the equation down to 119/2 before Pooran was dismissed by Tilak Varma. Pooran fell short of his fifty by three runs and hit four sixes and one four in his 35-ball 47.

King carried on the fight on the other end and added another 47 runs for third wicket to take the West Indies over the line with 12 balls to spare.

King was so brutal that he smashed an unbeaten 85 off 55 deliveries with the help of five fours and six sixes.

Earlier, riding high on Romario Shepherd’s 4-31 West Indies restricted India to 165/9 in the winner-takes-all fifth and final T20I match at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, here on Sunday.

While Suryakumar Yadav was the top scorer for India with his 61 off 45, it was Axar Patel’s little cameo of 13 off 10 which took India through to a fighting total of 165/9 in 20 overs.

India got off to a poor start as Akeal Hosein removed both openers -- Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill -- in quick succession, leaving India 17/2 within three overs.

Then, Suryakumar and Tilak Verma staged a fightback as the former changed the momentum by elegantly hitting the final ball of the fifth over straight back over the bowler’s head for a tremendous six. Following that, Tilak Varma turned up the heat by striking three boundaries and a six off Alzarri Joseph in the sixth over, pushing the powerplay score to 51/2.

When Tilak was looking dangerous, Rostan Chase showcased exceptional alertness and skill by taking a remarkable caught-and-bowled opportunity to dismiss the left-hander, breaking the 49-run third-wicket partnership.

During the subsequent two overs, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson managed to find the boundary on a few occasions as India reached 86/3 at the halfway point of the innings.

The next over, Shepherd came into the attack and claimed a wicket in his very first over, dismissing Sanju Samson for 13. After being boundaryless for four overs, Yadav broke the shackles by dispatching the ball over the deep mid-wicket for a brilliant six. The right-hander then brought up his fifty with a maximum in the 16th over.

Soon, the game underwent a short delay as the rain got heavier to force the players to go off the field. And, ground-staff jumped into action straightaway and brought on the covers.

After play resumed, India lost four wickets in quick succession. Pandya struck a powerful blow that cleared long-off for a six but fell victim to Shepherd on the very next ball. Soon after, Suryakumar was sent back to the hut after a superb knock.

In the penultimate over, Shepherd stuck twice and claimed his third in the form of Arshdeep Singh and removed Kuldeep Yadav on the next delivery, finishing with a figure of 4-31.

Then, Axar Patel went for a few lusty blows in the final over to add crucial runs to the board. But with just two balls left, the rain has returned, causing another short delay. On the penultimate ball, Holder removed Axar and Mukesh Kumar finished it off with a boundary as India posted 165/9 in 20 overs.

Meanwhile, stylish Indian batter Virat Kohli has hailed Babar Azam as one of the best batters in the world across formats.

Kohli conveyed his admiration and recalled his first meeting with Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam in an interaction with Star Sports.

“The first interaction I had with him (Babar) was during the 2019 (ODI) World Cup after the game in Manchester,” Kohli recalled in the interview filmed last year.

“I’ve known Imad (Wasim) since the Under-19 World Cup, and he said Babar wanted to have a chat.

“We sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him from day one, and that hasn’t changed,” Kohli said.

“Regardless of the fact he’s probably the top batsman in the world across formats, and rightly so.

“Performs so consistently and I’ve always enjoyed watching him play,” Kohli added.

Agencies