India seal T20I series with 67 run victory against West Indies

Indian batsmen scored 172 runs from boundaries alone

Rishabh-Pant-Virat-Kohli-PTI Indian skipper Virat Kohli with wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant celebrates the dismissal of West Indies' batsman Nicholas Pooran during the third T20 cricket match, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai | PTI

Despite sparks of brilliance by Kieron Pollard and Hetmeyer, West Indies' batsmen could not match the performance meted out by India as they fell short of the target by 67 runs, ending their innings at 173-8 chasing 241.

India have now sealed the T20I series with a 2-1 victory.

An explosive first innings saw just three Indian batsmen hit 232 runs, as Rohit Sharma (71 off 34), Virat Kohli (70 off 29) and K.L. Rahul (91 off 56) took 172 runs from boundaries alone. Numerous records were set by the Indian batsmen as the home side came back from a devastating loss in the second T20I.

In response, West Indies managed 173 for 8 in 20 overs with Kieron Pollard scoring 68 off 39 balls. 

The signs of a Windies comeback that became apparent in the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram were invisible on Wednesday, as the opening batsmen fell cheaply and big-hitters like Hetmeyer and Pollard failed to carry the team by themselves.

Adding to the woes of the Windies, Evin Lewis was stretchered off the field after suffering a fielding injury while India was batting.

Openers Lendl Simmons and Brandon King fell for single-digit scores while Nicholas Pooran fell for a duck off a Chahar delivery.

Windies top-hitter Pollard (68 off 39 deliveries) was taken out by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 14th over. Besides him, only Hetmeyer and Kesrick Williams managed to score more than a single boundary in the game for the away side.

In a good haul for the Indian bowlers with two wickets each for Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav.

With the T20 series now over, the two sides will begin the ODI leg of the Windies tour of India on Sunday.