In another game which was pretty one-sided and lopsided as they come, India under Rohit Sharma comprehensively beat the West Indies by 96 runs to convincingly complete a 3-0 whitewash of the boys from the Caribbean. After winning the toss and batting first, the top order once again failed to deliver, being reduced to 42-3. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship, both scoring half-centuries, before late cameos from Deepak Chahar and Washington Sundar ensure that India reached a competitive score of 265.
In response, once again West Indies collapsed like a pack of cards, losing wickets at regular intervals. Odean Smith once again landed a few lusty blows to add a little respectability, before being folded out for 169.
Let’s have a look at the talking points from the game-
1. Top Order failure
In a second successive game, the Indian top order has failed to deliver. It is difficult to comprehend that a top-order that has a total of almost 90 ODI centuries among them are struggling for runs among them. And all the wickets were not necessarily of good deliveries. Rohit played onto his stumps going after a ball that was going away from the body, Kohli was strangled down the leg side and Dhawan was guilty of playing the ball far too away from his body. It is not an issue if you are getting dismissed off an absolute peach of a delivery, but questions have to be asked if you get out on deliveries you are not supposed to. The top-order needs to get its act back together fast.
2. Middle-order consistency
Just like the second ODI, the middle-order came to the fore once again, stitching useful partnerships and leading them to a competitive score, if it was Rahul and SKY in the previous game, it was Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant in this game, steadying the ship and putting together 110 runs for the 4th wicket. Slowly, but steadily, this middle order is raising its hand up and making valuable contributions when required. This gives the team valuable options both in terms of quality and squad depth.
3. West Indies Batting woes continue
For the third straight game, the West Indies batting has come an absolute no-show. The bowlers did their bit once again, bowling out of their skins and keeping India down to 265, but the batsmen once again failed to back up the good work by their bowlers. The likes of Bravo, Pooran, and hope have been failing consistently in putting up good scores with the bad, and if not for the resistance that was shown by the lower order in the fag end of the innings, It would have been much worse for the Windies.
4. Odean Smith is one to watch
While the rest of the team was guilty of performing poorly, Odean Smith can hold his head up high. The burly all-rounder has mightily impressed in this series, being one of the very few bright spots in what was a miserable series for the visitors. The Jamaican was economical with the ball, bowling the right lengths and keeping the batsmen in check, and his prowess with the bat is no secret, as witnessed with the effective use of the long handle to devastating effect. With the IPL auctions taking place tomorrow, he is sure to attract a lot of attention from all teams. He is definitely one to watch out for whenever the West Indies are in town.
