Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran deliver knockout blow to India
Romario Shepherd played the lead role for West Indies with the ball and, despite Suryakumar Yadav's 61, India failed to find rhythm in the decider
Romario Shepherd played the lead role for West Indies with the ball and, despite Suryakumar Yadav's 61, India failed to find rhythm in the decider
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Abhimanyu Bose
3.30pm So that is that from Florida. An absolute rollercoaster of a series and West Indies finish it with a massive win. And it brings an end to India's tour of the West Indies and USA. We have seen some excellent individual displays along the way across the three formats, and some young players making a mark for both teams. On behalf of Shashank and Venkat, this is Abhimanyu signing off!
Powell receives the trophy and the team lines up for the ceremony. Shepherd and Hope have the trophy in hand as they hoist it. Smiles on their faces. Jason Holder now has the guitar strapped around him as the celebrations begin.
3.15pm Time for the presentation ceremony.
Rovman Powell: "[On winning the series] It's difficult to put words to. Adjectives are inadequate for our feelings. It's a big series. It's a very big series for us to beat India at home with everything going on. Last night after we got defeated badly we sat down and talked. We are not just playing to put smiles on our faces but for the people . A lot of credit to the coaching staff and also the chairman. Yesterday we could have easily panicked but they sat me down and we talked about where we could go. I am big on individual performances and when individuals do well it helps the teams. Pooran is a big performer. We asked him to stand up for three out of fives games. Credit has to be given to the bowling unit as well for trying to control such a powerful Indian team. A lot of credit to the fans. When chips are down they rallied around us and supported us. Not just physically but social media as well. Shows how cricket is a driving force and if we can keep using it as an added motivation to put smiles on Caribbean faces."
Hardik Pandya: "If you see, we lost that period post ten overs. Since when I came, I wasn't able to capitalise and I took my time and could not finish. [On his decision at the toss] I believe that as a group we have to challenge ourselves. All these games are the games where we have to learn. We have spoken as a group that whenever we can take the hard way we will. In hindsight, one series here or there doesn't matter but the commitment to the goal is important. [On the T20 World Cup next year] It's a long way. We have the ODI WC coming up. And sometimes losing is good. You get to learn a lot. And special mention for all the boys. They showed great character. Winning and losing is a part of the process and we are going to make sure we learn from that. [On his bowling changes] It is what I feel at the moment, I don't plan much. If I see a situation, whatever my gut says I follow. [On captaining young players] They've got heart. That is something that's very important in international cricket. Every youngster coming through has belief. That's something I see very often now. Kudos to them, they came out and took responsibility. I can't be happier as a captain." He thanks the crowd and says he is sure there will be bigger numbers at the World Cup before signing off in Gujarati.
The player of the series is Nicholas Pooran. He had to leave to catch a flight so Powell accepts the award on his behalf. Pooran will also get a branded electric guitar courtesy Hard Rock Cafe for hitting the most sixes this series!
Player of the match, Romario Shepherd: "It makes me feel happy because we ended up on the winning side. So thanks to Pooran and King for playing so well. Right now from the ODIs to now, I've been hitting my areas and bowling well from the start to the end. [On bowling plans] Especially to Sanju, the plan was to hit the wicket and to Surya to get him to hit straight down the ground. [On the series win] It meant a lot to us especially because we've been going through some hard times in the past couple of months so to win against a team like India it means a lot for us and the fans."
ShahSafeer: "West Indies have defeated Australia, England and India at home in a five match T20I series!"
OxTiger: "Kuldeep has been phenomenal in this T20I series- best bowler out of both sides, by a huge margin. I sincerely hope that India recognizes his worth and gives him a permanent spot in the ODI World Cup as well."
3.02pm Hope lets out a roar. Powell is hugging Sammy. With everything going on with West Indies cricket, this series win is massive for them. First T20I series win for West Indies against India since 2017! When India came roaring back to make it 2-2, it looked like momentum was with them, but Powell said he backs West Indies in a final, and his team came through. And through rain and lightning and the threat of some SKY brilliance, West Indies have fought hard and come out on top. Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd shone with the ball to restrict India to 165. And then it was all about Brandon King, who has registered his highest T20I score, and Nicholas Pooran who cruised through the chase after Arshdeep Singh removed Kyle Mayers in the second over. The two batters played out the threat of Kuldeep Yadav and picked their moments, targeting Yuzvendra Chahal in particular as they kept the runs coming. By the time Tilak Varma had Nicholas Pooran caught at slip off his second delivery in international cricket, the game was all but done. And King then ensured there was no late drama. Shai Hope was solid as usual and got the winning runs, maybe deservedly so after falling short of a fifty in the last game. All in all, a memorable series and a memorable win for West Indies.
For India though, there are still several questions to be answered, the biggest one being how they intend to get their balance right. The long tail has rightly raised questions, and it led to them putting up a below-par total yet again. A middling series for Chahal as well, and Hardik's usage of Axar also does raise doubts. We will hear about some of those issues probably when Hardik speaks at the presentation ceremony, which is coming up soon.
Six runs needed off the last three overs now. And another new bowler! Yashasvi Jaiswal with his leg-spin!
"If you look at West Indies, they had Alzarri Joseph coming in at No. 11 and he can hit a mean ball"
In a series that eventually became Pooran vs the rest, the West Indies batter won his individual battles
Captain says "sometimes losing is good because it teaches you a lot of things" and was happy with how the youngsters in the squad performed
Romario Shepherd played the lead role for West Indies with the ball and, despite Suryakumar Yadav's 61, India failed to find rhythm in the decider