On a difficult batting pitch, India massively out-batted and out-bowled the West Indies to win the 3rd ODI by 93 runs and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series. Chasing 252 for a series-levelling victory, the home team were bundled out for 158 in 38.1 overs, with the Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin (3/28) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/41) taking three wickets apiece and very much bowling India to another comprehensive victory.
The pitch, because of heavy rain on match eve, was damp to start off with. And Jason Holder won his third straight toss of this series, choosing to field first again. Unlike in the first two ODIs, the Indian opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan were separated as early as with the score at 11 in the third over. Dhawan, playing an upper cut off Miguel Cummins, holed out to third man for just 2. Virat Kohli was out cheaply as well for a 22-ball 11, bringing Yuvraj Singh to the middle at just the right match scenario for him, given his current limitations.
Yuvraj and Rahane added 66 for the third wicket, before the former was trapped in front of the stumps by Devendra Bishoo. The Indian innings just didn’t get going for four-fifth of its length, thanks to disciplined bowling from the West Indies bowlers and also because the pitch wasn’t tailor-made for strokeplay. India managed only 151/3 in the first 40 overs. But MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav, with an exhibition of brute force and cheeky batting at times, propelled India to 251/4, a 300-type score given the way the pitch was behaving.
Dhoni became the second highest run-scorer (9442) in ODIs among wicketkeepers, going past Adam Gilchrist (9410) and behind Kumar Sangakkara (13341), though his batting average of 51.31 is vastly better than Gilchrist and Sangakkara’s, two players who have long been retired. And for his unbeaten half-century of 78* off 79 balls, an innings punctuated by four fours and two typical Dhoni sixes, the Indian gloveman was awarded the man-of-the-match.
Talking about landmarks, Ravichandran Ashwin had needed three wickets to reach 150 in ODIs. And he reached this milestone by dismissing Miguel Cummins.
Scorecard
Playing XIs
West Indies: 1. Jason Holder (c), 2. Shai Hope (wk), 3. Kyle Hope, 4. Roston Chase, 5. Evin Lewis, 6. Jason Mohammed, 7. Rovman Powell, 8. Devendra Bishoo, 9. Miguel Cummins, 10. Kesrick Williams, and 11. Ashley Nurse
India: 1. Ajinkya Rahane, 2. Shikhar Dhawan, 3. Virat Kohli (c), 4. Yuvraj Singh, 5. MS Dhoni (wk), 6. Kedar Jadhav, 7. Hardik Pandya, 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9. Ravichandran Ashwin, 10. Umesh Yadav, and 11. Kuldeep Yadav
Scores
India 251/4 (Dhoni 78* and Rahane 72; Cummins 2/56)
West Indies 158/10 (Mohammed 40; Ashwin 3/28 and Kuldeep 3/41)
| Indian innings (toss: West Indies, who chose to bowl first) | |||||
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs scored | No. of 4s | No. of 6s | Strike rate |
| Ajinkya Rahane | caught Bishoo, bowled Cummins | 72 (112) | 4 | 1 | 64.28 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | caught Chase, bowled Cummins | 2 (6) | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Virat Kohli | caught K Hope, bowled Holder | 11 (22) | 2 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Yuvraj Singh | leg before wicket Bishoo | 39 (55) | 4 | 0 | 70.90 |
| MS Dhoni | not out | 78 (79) | 4 | 2 | 98.73 |
| Kedar Jadhav | not out | 40 (26) | 4 | 1 | 153.84 |
| Batsmen who didn’t bat: Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, and Kuldeep Yadav | |||||
| Extras: 9 (8 wides and 1 leg bye) | |||||
| India’s total: 251/4 in 50 overs, at 5.02 runs per over | |||||
| India’s fall of wickets: 11/1 (Dhawan, 2.4), 34/2 (Kohli, 9.3), 100/3 (Yuvraj, 26.2), and 170/4 (Rahane, 42.2) | |||||
| West Indies bowling | |||||
| Bowlers | Overs | Maidens | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Economy rate |
| Miguel Cummins | 10 | 0 | 56 | 2 | 5.60 |
| Jason Holder | 10 | 1 | 53 | 1 | 5.30 |
| Kesrick Williams | 10 | 0 | 69 | 0 | 6.90 |
| Ashley Nurse | 10 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 3.40 |
| Devendra Bishoo | 10 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 3.80 |
| West Indies innings (target: 252 runs in 50 overs, at 5.04 runs per over) | |||||
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs scored | No. of 4s | No. of 6s | Strike rate |
| Evin Lewis | bowled Umesh | 2 (5) | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Kyle Hope | caught Jadhav, bowled Pandya | 19 (35) | 3 | 0 | 54.28 |
| Shai Hope | caught and bowled Pandya | 24 (50) | 2 | 0 | 48.00 |
| Roston Chase | bowled Kuldeep | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| Jason Mohammed | leg before wicket Kuldeep | 40 (61) | 4 | 0 | 65.57 |
| Jason Holder | stumped Dhoni, bowled Ashwin | 6 (9) | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| Rovman Powell | caught Pandya, bowled Kuldeep | 30 (43) | 5 | 0 | 69.76 |
| Ashley Nurse | caught Umesh, bowled Ashwin | 6 (6) | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Devendra Bishoo | not out | 4 (11) | 0 | 0 | 36.36 |
| Miguel Cummins | leg before wicket Ashwin | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Kesrick Williams | bowled Jadhav | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Extras: 23 (17 wides and 6 leg byes) | |||||
| West Indies’ total: 158/10 in 38.1 overs, at 4.13 runs per over | |||||
| WI’s fall of wickets: 9/1 (Lewis, 1.2), 54/2 (K Hope, 12.4), 58/3 (Chase, 13.4), 69/4 (S Hope 16.4), 87/5 (Holder, 19.3), 141/6 (R Powell, 32.4), 148/7 (Nurse, 33.6), 156/8 (Mohammed, 36.5), 157/9 (Cummins, 37.3), and 158/10 (Williams, 38.1) | |||||
| India bowling | |||||
| Bowlers | Overs | Maidens | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Economy rate |
| B Kumar | 5 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 3.80 |
| Umesh Yadav | 7 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 4.57 |
| Hardik Pandya | 6 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 5.33 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 10 | 1 | 41 | 3 | 4.10 |
| R Ashwin | 10 | 1 | 28 | 3 | 2.80 |
| Kedar Jadhav | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |