A shot-filled half-century from Kyle Mayers was not enough to prevent a 7-wicket loss for the West Indies as India, pushed on by an equally forceful reply from Suryakumar Yadav, won the third T20 international with an over to spare.
After losing the toss and being put in to bat, Mayers and Brandon King got the team off to a solid start, in the power play, after a 57 partnership for the first wicket. Although by taking 20 deliveries to make his 20, King somewhat slowed down the scoring rate.
Hardik Pandya got the breakthrough for India when King, deceived by a slower ball, dragged onto the stumps. Mayers then joined forces with captain Nicholas Pooran for another 50 partnership pushing the team to 107. Pooran was then undone by a delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which he miscued before being gobbled up by Pant. The Windies captain used 23 balls for his 22 runs.
The same pair, Kumar, and Pant, combined to finally account for Mayers, as well, as he top-edged to Pant from a slower ball. Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer made brief cameos of 23 and 20, and briefly accelerated the scoring but were kept in check by India’s bowling line-up.
In pursuit, India got off to a flyer despite Rohit Sharma retiring hurt in the second over and Shreyas Iyer struggling after coming in next at the crease. The innings was fueled by Yadav’s aggression with his 76 runs off 44 balls putting the match out of reach for the West Indies. India now leads the five-match series 2-1 after three games.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
IPL: Kohli and Patidar star to snap RCB's losing streak
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended a six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League by claiming a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bengaluru still sit bottom of the standings, but have reason to cheer after Virat Kohli's 51 and Rajat Patidar's 20-ball 50 got the job done in style on Thursday.
Cameron Green chipped in with a useful 37 as RCB reached 206-7 from their 20 overs, and the Australian then took 2-12 with the ball as the Sunrisers failed to get going.
Shahbaz Ahmed top scored for Sunrisers with 40 not-out, but it was not enough as they only mustered 171-8 in response.
Data Debrief
Thursday's match marked Jaydev Unadkat's 100th in the IPL, and though he finished on the losing side, he did take a memorable three-for to celebrate the occasion.
It was Unadkat who dismissed Kohli, Patidar and Mahipal Lomror, finishing with figures of 3-30.
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