An impressive fifty from Suryakumar Yadav and an all-round bowling performance helped India beat West Indies by seven wickets in the third T20I of the five-match series at Warner Park in St. Kitts and Nevis in the early hours of Wednesday, August 3.

Chasing a target of 165, India rode on Suryakumar Yadav’s 76 off 44 balls and Rishabh Pant’s 26-ball 33 to chase down the total in 19 overs and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series.

Earlier, an all-round bowling performance helped India restrict West Indies to 164/5 in their 20 overs.

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first. The Men in Blue decided to rest star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as they replaced him with Deepak Hooda in the playing XI.

For the hosts, Dominic Drakes was added to the playing as an additional left-arm fast bowling option in place of Odean Smith.

Opening batters Brandon King and Kyle Mayers provided West Indies a decent start as the duo forged a 57-run stand for the first wicket before Hardik Pandya cleaned up King for run-a-ball 20.

Following King’s dismissal, Nicholas Pooran joined Mayers at the crease. While the West Indies captain took time to settle, his batting partner Mayers continued to play his shots as he brought up his second T20I fifty.

After stitching a steady 50-run partnership for the second wicket, Bhuveshwar Kumar brought India back into the game as he removed Pooran (22) and Mayers (73) in consecutive overs.

Flamboyant batters Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer accelerated the West Indies innings as they added 34 runs off just 18 balls before India left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh bagged the wicket of Powell for 23 in his final over. Later, Hetmyer was run-out as West Indies managed 164/5 in their allotted 20 overs.

Bhuvneshwar was the pick of the bowlers for India as he claimed two wickets for 35 runs in his quota of four overs. Arshdeep and Hardik bagged one wicket each.

Meanwhile, India fast bowler Avesh Khan once again struggled as he conceded 47 runs in his three overs.

Chasing a tricky target, India suffered a massive blow as Rohit Sharma was forced to retire hurt after he pulled a muscle near his waist while batting.

Shreyas Iyer joined Suryakumar Yadav at the middle as the duo forged an impressive partnership for the opening wicket to take control of the run-chase.

In the meantime, Suryakumar, who once again opened the Indian innings, showed his class as he smashed his fifty off just 26 balls.

The Indian batters forged a 105-run stand for the opening wicket before Shreyas was stumped for 24.

Post the mini setback, wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar added 30 runs for the second wicket before Drakes removed the Mumbai Indians batter for a well-made 76. Suryakumar’s blitzkrieg knock included eight fours and four sixes.

In-form India all-rounder Hardik Pandya failed to get going with the bat as he was dismissed for just four runs.

Needing another run-a-ball 16, Pant (33*) and Deepak Hooda (10*) guided India to a thumping victory with one over to spare.

Suryakumar was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock in the third T20I.

India and West Indies are scheduled to travel to the United States to play the fourth T20I of the five-match series at Central Broward Regional Park in Florida on Saturday, August 6. Match will start at 8 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).