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India steamroll West Indies by 59 runs in 4th T20I to clinch series

By Mumbai Indians

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An impressive all-round performance helped India thrash West Indies by 59 runs in the fourth T20I to clinch the five-match series at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida in the early hours of Sunday.

Put into bat, Rishabh Pant’s 31-ball 44, Rohit Sharma’s 33 off 16 balls and Axar Patel’s unbeaten 8-ball 20 helped India post 191/5 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals as they were bowled out for 132 in 19.1 overs.

With another commanding victory under their belt, Rohit Sharma-led India have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match T20I series.

Earlier, West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran won the toss and opted to field first. The Caribbean outfit remained unchanged from the third T20I while India made as many as three changes to their playing XI.

The Men in Blue added Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel and Sanju Samson in place of Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer.

Opening batters Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav got India off to a blitzkrieg start as they reached fifty in just 4.3 overs.

Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein provided West Indies a much-needed breakthrough as he removed captain Rohit. The Mumbai Indians captain, who was looking to hit Hosein for back-to-back sixes, was dismissed for a quick-fire 16-ball 33.

Windies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph soon joined the party as he trapped Suryakumar Yadav in front of the stumps to dismiss the in-form batter for 24 off 14 balls.

Deepak Hooda and wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant stitched a solid 47-run stand for the third wicket before Hooda (21) perished to Joseph.

Sanju Samson joined Rishabh Pant at the crease as the duo played some attacking cricket to add 38 runs off just 22 balls in the middle overs before left-arm pacer Obey McCoy got rid of Pant for a well-made 44 off 31 balls.

Later, McCoy bagged his second wicket of the match as he cleaned up Dinesh Karthik for six runs.

Batting at number seven, all-rounder Axar Patel smashed an unbeaten 20 runs off just eight balls to power India to 191/5 in their allotted 20 overs.

In response, India pacer Avesh Khan dismissed West Indies opener Brandon King (13) and wicket-keeper batter Devon Smith (1) in his first two overs to put the Caribbean side on the backfoot.

Looking for some inspiration, West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran hammered 24 runs off just eight balls before the star batter was back in the hut after an unfortunate run-out.

Apart from Rovman Powell (24) and Shimron Hetmyer (19), other West Indies batters failed to show any resistance as they were bowled out for 132 to succumb to another series defeat in the shortest format.

Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was the standout bowler for India as he claimed three wickets for just 12 runs in his 3.1 overs. Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel and Avesh Khan bagged two wickets each.

Avesh Khan was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning opening spell.

India and West Indies will play the fifth and final T20I at Central Broward Regional Park on Sunday, August 7. Match will start at 8:00 PM IST.