Suryakumar Yadav was at his fluent best as he slammed a match-winning half-century against the West Indies in the 3rd T20I at the Warner Park, Basseterre in St Kitts on Tuesday (local time). India now lead the five-match T20 series 2-1. 

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Surya, who played as an opener alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, went on the score 76 runs off 44 balls with the help of eight boundaries and four maximums. He and Shreyas Iyer (24 off 27) forged a half-century partnership after Sharma was retired hurt on 11. Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten at 33 runs off 26 balls as India completed the 165-run chase with one over to spare. 

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For West Indies, Dominic Drakes, Jason Holder and Akeal Hosein got one wicket each. 

Speaking about his injury after the match, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said, “It’s okay at the moment. We’ve got a few days till the next game, hopefully it should be okay.”

The captain further praised India’s middle-overs bowling.  Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets for 35 runs while Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh got one each. Windies opener Kyle Mayers top-scored with a 50-ball 73 while Rovman Powell contributed 23.

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“How we bowled in the middle overs was crucial. I thought we used the conditions well. Used the variations well. Was very clinical how we chased. When you watched from the outside, didn’t feel a lot of risk was taken, was a lot of calmness in the middle. Surya batted brilliantly, good partnership there with Iyer,” Sharma added. 

This is India’s 19th win in last 21 matches chasing. 

21 matches

19 wins

2 defeats

This is also the highest successful chase in T20Is in Basseterre. Previous highest: 147 by WI vs Afg in 2017. 

“Really happy with the way things went. Was important for someone to bat 15-17 overs after Rohit went back inside. We saw yesterday what happened in the second innings. Was important for someone to bat deep and win the game, that’s what I’ve focussed on. Just backed myself and enjoying it,” Suryakumar Yadav, player of the match, said.