Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma shine for India in 7-wicket win (AP Photo)
Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma’s heroics guide India to 7-wicket win as India remain alive in the T20I series at 2-1
Suryakumar Yadav missed out on a well-deserved century, and Tilak Varma also missed out on his fifty as he returned unbeaten at 49, but India roared back into the T20I series by winning the do-or-die fixture. The Men in Blue registered a 7-wicket win in the third T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday, August 8, and thus India remained alive in the series making a comeback at 2-1 after losing the first two matches.
Suryakumar smashed an 83-run knock, helping India take command in a must-win fixture, his classy inning included 10 boundaries and four maximums. The 32-year-old came out to bat when India lost debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal at 1, SKY began his inning with a boundary and a six and would go on to smash his 14th T20I fifty.
The number 1 ranked T20I batter became India’s fourth-highest run-getter in T20I cricket, Tilak became the leading run-scorer in the ongoing series despite having played just 3 games on the international stage as he returned unbeaten at 49.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss and elected to bat first, he himself smashed a 19-ball 40-run knock to guide his side to a series-high score of 159/5, which was then surpassed by the Indian team as they reached 164/3, winning the game with 13 balls to spare.
The hosts got their inning off to a composed start, openers Kyle Mayers and Brandon King dominated the powerplay and stitched together a 55-run stand before Axar Patel drew first blood when he hunted down Mayers.
Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran failed to shine on the day while King continued to keep his side ticking, Kuldeep Yadav removed both Pooran and King in an over.
IND vs WI Highlights 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma Power India to 7-wicket Win
Rovman Powell then came out to bat and helped his side over the 150-run mark giving India a daunting total to chase.
There was a lot of excitement for Yashasvi’s T20I debut but he failed to shine as the youngster got dismissed at 1. Shubman Gill’s lean patch continued as he departed at 6.
Suryakumar and Tilak then joined hands for a match-changing partnership which turned the tide in India’s favour. SKY dominated the game while Tilak rotated the strike, Hardik Pandya then joined Varma and scored the winning runs with a six as an unbeaten Tilak stood at 49 on the other end.