IND vs WI 3rd T20I: PREVIEW

India's winning streak in T20Is continues as Rohit Sharma's men clinch yet another victory against the Men in Maroon. Half centuries from Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Bhuvi's crucial 19th over sealed the series for India. Rishabh's knock and his partnership with Venkatesh Iyer came at an important stage and earned him Man of the Match honours. Put in to bat, India had a cold start with Ishan Kishan getting dismissed cheaply. Virat Kohli came out with intent and made full use of the fielding restrictions as he raced past 30 in no time with some exquisite shots.

Off Spinner Roston Chase was once again at the top of his spell where he picked 3 crucial wickets and conceded only 25 runs. Hosts were looking at a low score after Kohli's dismissal in the 14th over but a 76-run stand between Iyer and Pant meant they finished well above 180. 

West Indies failed to register a flying start as they were scoring a little above 6 run per over in Powerplay and lost their 1st wicket in 6th over. Nicholas Pooran was once again the standout perfomer just like he was in the series against England and in 1st T20I. Pooran was helped by a catch drop against the same bowler and by the same fielder in 1st T20I-Bishnoi. His partnership with Rovman Powell was threatening as the duo sent the Indian bowlers for a leather hunt and had the game in their grip till the 18th over. Bhuvi has not been the same since last couple of seasons because of multiple injuries but he was spot on with his execution at the death where he gave only 4 runs in the 19th over. 

With the series sealed, India have decided to give Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli much needed break from the bio bubble. This opens up opportunities for CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and KKR's new captain Shreyas Iyer. Visitors would look to field the same XI. Opening partnership and scoring rate against leg spinners are 2 departments which the Caribbean camp would like to address.

Probable XI

India: Rohit Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar/Avesh Khan, Siraj/Deepak, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bishnoi/Kuldeep

West Indies: Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Fabian Allen, Odean Smith, Sheldon Cottrell

Head to Head

Overall: India leads 12-6
Last 5 matches: India leads 4-1
Under Rohit's Captaincy: India leads 5-0

 Match Ups

India
Rohit vs Pollard: 11 runs off 7 balls with 2 dismissals
Rohit vs Odean: 21 runs off 5 balls with no dismissals
Kishan vs Cottrell: 7 runs off 14 balls with 1 dismissal

West Indies
King vs Bhuvi: 14 runs off 21 balls for 2 dismissals
Pollard vs Bhuvi: 58 runs off 36 balls for 1 dismissal
Pooran vs Chahal: 59 runs off 28 balls for no dismissal
Mayers vs Chahal: 2 runs off 5 balls for 2 dismissals

Form Update
(runs in last 5 T20I innings)

Key Players

West Indies

Roston Chase: The all-rounder luckily got a chance in the side after Jason Holder missed out in the 1st T20I after being hit on the chest and was rested as a precautionary measure. Chase produced back-to-back gems with match figures of 2/14 and 3/25. These are extraordinary numbers for a finger spinner on a venue like Eden against a top quality batting side like India.

Rovman Powell: Promoted to no. 3 in the last series against England, Powell scored a scintillating 107 and a cameo of 35 at a strike rate of 200+. Coming into the series, it was expected he will cause damage with his brutal power hitting. Powell did not committ the same mistake he did in 1st T20I by going early against the leggies. He gave himself some time in the middle and blasted 68*(36). India will once again bring Chahal and Bishnoi to counter him. The trio of Powell, Romario Shepard and Odean Smith is one of the most explosive lower order one can get.

Nicholas Pooran: The onus will be once again on this wicketkeeper batsman to steady the ship. He has shown some remarkable consistency in last few months and has a scintillating record in India. Pooran ended up as the highest run scorer against England with 164 runs. He has scored 445 runs at a strike rate of 134 in his last 12 innings. 

India

Rohit Sharma: Not just his consistency but the rate at which he his scoring at the top has been extremely impressive. In the last 8 innings, Sharma has accumulated 378 runs at a SR in excess of 160. He has scored 578 runs against West Indies at an average of 43.

Ruturaj Gaikwad: Ruturaj has been in terrific form after a record breaking IPL. He was the top scorer in VHT with 603 runs at an average of 150 and scored 259 runs in SMAT at an average of 51. With Pant and Kohli released from the bio bubble, his chances of getting a look in the XI have increased exponentially.

Harshal Patel: He has been bestowed with the responsibility of bowling 2 overs at the death, an area where he was exceptional in the IPL and in the series against New Zealand. The batsmen have no clue of his off cutters and slower ones. He gets more dip than other bowlers which forces the batsman to committ early since they can't pick him from his hand. Patel ended up with figures of 45 runs from 4 overs but he made sure he did not leak much runs in the 18th over. With more game time under his belt, the bowler's skills are only going to take an upward trajectory.

Trivia

• India has won last 10 out 11 HTHs.
• Rohit to captain his 25th T20I and set to break records.
• Kishan's strike rate is one of the lowest (110) after first 7 T20I innings
• Nicholas Pooran averages 55 and strikes at 166 in India with 3 fifties in 6 outings.

Fantasy XI