India, up 2-0 going into the final game of the Twenty20 International series, had to field first after the Windies won the toss in the final fixture on Sunday, 11 November in Chennai.
It was a good call, and Darren Bravo (43*) and Nicholas Pooran (53*) played brilliantly to take the total to 181/3. Not enough, it proved in the end, as Shikhar Dhawan’s 92 and Rishabh Pant’s 58 helped India to a last-ball win, by six wickets.
“Need to give credit to Shikhar and Rishabh, who played very, very well. I’ll also give credit to my group of guys, who started well with the ball. The partnership seemed to take the game away from us, but we stuck in, we kept our belief and we played till the end,” said Brathwaite after the defeat, which meant India won all three series on tour – the Tests 2-0, the one-day internationals 3-1, and the T20Is 3-0.
Good as Bravo was, scoring his runs in just 37 balls, it was Pooran who stood out in the Windies innings. Playing just his fifth T20I, Pooran slammed four fours and four sixes to score his runs in just 25 balls.
“I want you to realise it wasn’t just his big hitting. He played some reverse scoops and he paced his innings very well,” pointed out Brathwaite. “Obviously, the sixes will take the highlight, but let’s not forget how slowly he started.
