India Defends 223 to Beat West Indies by 14 Runs and Take 2-1 Lead in T20I Series

India defeated West Indies by 14 runs in the third T20I at Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. West Indies elected to field and restricted India to 223 all out. The visitors were then held to 209 for 7 in their 20 overs.

Abhishek Sharma scored 69 off 30 balls with six fours and five sixes. He and Ishan Kishan (37 off 18) added 108 runs for the second wicket. Sanju Samson fell early for 3. Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 1. Tilak Varma made 28, Nitish Kumar Reddy 21 and Axar Patel 20. Roston Chase took 2 for 38 as West Indies fought back with four wickets in 16 balls in the middle overs. India were bowled out in the final over.

Chasing 224, West Indies lost captain Shai Hope for 5 to Arshdeep Singh. Kamil Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer added 60 off 31 balls. Naman Dhir broke the stand by bowling Hetmyer and later dismissed Pooran. Axar Patel removed Rovman Powell. Sherfane Rutherford scored 32 and Quentin Sampson 21, but regular wickets prevented the required rate from being sustained. Shamar Springer finished 35 not out off 11 balls, including three sixes in the final over, but West Indies ended on 209 for 7.

Arshdeep Singh took 3 for 44 and was named player of the match. Naman Dhir claimed 2 for 39. Mayank Yadav opened with a maiden-like over of high pace. The pitch offered lower bounce than earlier venues in the series, making big hitting more difficult. Dew did not become a major factor. India’s total proved above par under those conditions.

The result followed West Indies’ record chase in Ranchi that levelled the series. India made two changes, bringing in Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy for Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav. Both contributed. The series moves to Hyderabad for the fourth match with India leading 2-1.

Abhishek’s strike rate of 230 and the 108-run partnership set a platform that the rest of the innings could not fully capitalise on once Chase and the West Indies attack tightened. On the bowling side, the combination of pace at the top and spin through the middle restricted the visitors despite Hetmyer’s brisk 43 and Springer’s late hitting. The 14-run margin was the first successful defence of a total on the tour.

Holkar Stadium has produced high-scoring games in the past, but the surface on Sunday limited the highest scores. India’s 223 was the highest total of the match. West Indies needed more than 11 runs an over after the early wickets and never quite recovered the required momentum after the middle-order dismissals.

The five-match series continues with two matches remaining. India will look to consolidate the lead while West Indies seek to level the series again. Arshdeep’s figures and Abhishek’s innings were the decisive individual contributions on a night when both sides found scoring harder than in the previous high-scoring fixtures.