India take series after Rohit, Rahul, Kohli sixathon
Shami impressed upon return, as did the other seamers and Kuldeep
Shami impressed upon return, as did the other seamers and Kuldeep
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Karthik Krishnaswamy
11.15pm India haven't been a good bat-first team in T20Is of late, and that's often been down to their risk-averse approach. They've tried to change that, of late. They tried and failed against South Africa in Bangalore recently, but today they tried and succeeded, and how. They went hard at the bowling from start to finish, and posted a truly massive total on a flat pitch. This effort will hold them in good stead through the period leading up to the T20 World Cup, and if they can get all their batsmen used to this approach and settled in their roles, they'll be an extremely dangerous team. West Indies, when they are at full strength, will always be a dangerous team too, and they showed that at various points during this series as well. Next up is the ODI series, which begins in Chennai on Sunday. Do join us for that, and keep sending in your comments. Until then, it's goodbye from me, Ankur and Chandan.
Virat Kohli is the Player of the Series. "We had spoken a lot. It was about going out on the field and executing. I had the opportunity to do something different, which I don't usually do. I told KL to stay on till the end, and said I'll try and smash a few. It was my second-year anniversary today, my wedding, and it was a special day for me. I know that I can contribute in all formats, it's about putting your mind to it. My role becomes crucial, because I have to play two roles. I'm trying to be able to play like this as well. You have to do it out there in the middle to gain confidence from it. I think two guys in the middle with clarity, the way Rahul and Rohit played today, that is key. Batting first [earlier], we've been too tight and hesitant, should we go for it, should we not."
KL Rahul is the Player of the Match. Surprising. Thought either Rohit or Kohli would get it.
Anyway, here's what Rahul has to say: "Both of them were in a destructive mood today, they were hitting the ball so sweetly from ball one. It's pretty obvious that our reocrd hasn't been great batting first, and we're looking to see what we can do to put up better totals. It was a great opportunity to bat first in a series decider, and it came off, and it'll give us a lot of confidence going into the other T20 series going forward."
Kieron Pollard: "Taking the positives, when you look at our performances with the bat through the series, consistent, we'll take that as a unit. At the end of the day, we know we need to get better at executing with the ball. In our minds [240 was gettable]. 230 has been chased here when England played South Africa. There's a lot of emerging players coming through. Yes, the bowling is a concern, but we have a roster of guys coming through. Those are the areas, but we know success is a boring thing, you need to do the right things day in and day out. Yes, we lost 2-1, but we have three more games to look forward to in the ODIs."
11pm Not sure why the presentation is taking so long to start. Ah, well, here we go.
Samiuddin Khaja: "Vinod meant 67 runs divided by 6 = 11 sixes" -- Ah!
Rahul Sargam: "173 isn't that bad score (I hope Mumbai crowd enjoyed it in the ground), considering that Lewis didn't bat and Pooran couldn't perform. Had there been Dre Russ today, things would have really been different, such a flat track it was. Great game, superb stuff from Rohit, Virat, Polly and KL. Such a fantastic game it was, loved it."
Vinod Rajpal: "India WON this SIxathon Match by 11 Sixes !!" -- Four sixes, no?
Ananth : "@kritish To do it better Washy didn't concede a boundary!"
Mustafa Moudi: "Fun Fact: Rohit Sharma is the only player to NOT win the Man of the Match in the Match where he completed 400 Sixes... Afridi in 1st T20 vs WI in 2013 and Gayle in World Cup 2015 vs Zimbabwe reached 400 Sixes and won the Man of the Match in those matches !!"
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: "It was quite a satisfying wicket for me. When Pollard is batting, you expect to go for a few boundaries, so it was satisfying to get him after conceding 15 in the over. You can't bowl length balls to him, so you have to rely on bouncers and yorkers. And he's so powerful that a few mishits will also fly away for six."
10.43pm India win by 67 runs, and take a hard-fought series 2-1. Kohli comes out to greet his players as they come off the field, and as he gives Washington Sundar a high-five and a hug, he slips in a cheeky "Washy, what an over yaar."
This victory will make India happy for a number of reasons, chiefly for the fact that they batted first and went hard right from start to finish to post a massive total on a good batting pitch. Too often in the past, they've not gone hard enough soon enough on similar surfaces, and ended up significantly short against power-packed teams. West Indies were always going to struggle after a poor start to their powerplay, but they kept the fans entertained courtesy some thrilling hitting from Shimron Hetmyer and Kieron Pollard.
Kritish : "Chahar... Only bowler today to not concede any sixes. "
Sheldon Cottrell is the new batsman. Evin Lewis won't bat today.
K Pierre c sub (RA Jadeja) b Chahar 6 (12b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Deepak Chahar to finish, with West Indies needing 12 per ball.
The West Indies captain was particularly pleased with how youngsters had challenged a strong India side
India shedding their conservative approach and being more flexible could be their biggest takeaway from this series
Stats highlights from a run-fest in Mumbai, where India clinched the series
Shami impressed upon return, as did the other seamers and Kuldeep
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