West Indies lost their first three wickets with only 17 on the scoreboard and never recovered as India won the final one-day international by the huge margin of 200 runs to clinch the three-match series 2-1 on Tuesday.
Put into bat, India reached 351-5 with captain Hardik Pandya smashing 18 in the last over for a 52-ball 70 not out. West Indies were all out in reply for 151 in 35.3 overs. Shardul Thakur took 4-37 while Mukesh Kumar’s 3-30 included West Indies openers Brandon King (0) and Kyle Mayers (4).
The hosts were chasing their first ODI series win against India since 2006 but faced a tough challenge after Ishan Kishan (77) and Shubman Gill (85) gave India a great start, scoring 143 in 19.4 overs.
Hardik, whose final over was against Romario Shepherd, hit five sixes and four fours.
Sanju Samson (51) and Hardik added more quick runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in India’s highest ODI total against West Indies in West Indies.
In reply, West Indies were 1-1, 7-2 and then 17-3 with the wicket of captain Shai Hope (5). The game was effectively over at 75-7 when No. 3 Alick Athanaze (32) was bowled by Kuldeep Yadav (2-25). Late resistance came from Alzarri Joseph (26) and Gudakesh Motie (39 not out) who put on 55 runs for the ninth wicket.
West Indies captain Shai Hope expressed his team’s inconsistency after suffering a 2-1 series loss against India. Hope acknowledged that the West Indies team has the potential to perform like the best in the world on certain days, but on other occasions, they face overwhelming defeats.
Hope admitted that, despite the target of 350 being attainable, the day did not favour them.
Reflecting on the match, he emphasized that hindsight allows them to identify areas for improvement, but they were unable to provide a strong challenge to India from the beginning. While 350 was an achievable total on the pitch, he acknowledged that it wasn’t their day to achieve it.
Hope stressed the importance of maintaining a winning attitude and consistent performance among the team members. He highlighted the need to come together as a unit and turn these losses into victories.
The West Indies skipper pointed out the team’s contrasting performances, where they could play like the best in the world on some days but struggle significantly on others, leading to being “steamrolled” by their opponents.
“Some days, we wake up and play like the best team in the world. And, some days, we just get steamrolled,” ANI quoted Hope as saying.