By Fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill helped India beat West Indies by nine wickets in the fourth T20I played here at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida on Saturday.
India chased down a target of 179 – highest run chase at this venue – in 17 overs to draw level at 2-2 and force the five-match series into a decider.
Jaiswal (84 off 51) and Gill (77 off 47) recorded a joint highest opening partnership of 165 runs to boss the run chase.
The 21-year-old left-hander began the run chase with a four on the first ball, hinting at the intent India will be going in with for the next 17 overs. While Jaiswal attacked in the first three overs, Gill joined the party with a short-arm jab six off McCoy in the fourth over.
Gill then got 16 runs off the final over off Odean Smith as India finished the powerplay with 66 runs on the board. The duo didn’t stop even after the powerplay, keeping the scoring rate close to 10.
HIGHLIGHTS | India beats West Indies by 9 wickets to level series 2-2
Both Jaiswal and Gill reached their fifties in the 11th over and continued to bat in cruise control. None of the bowlers looked threatening as the openers made merry of the windy conditions and short square boundaries.
Shepherd took the solitary wicket off Gill in the 16th over who was trying to whip him over square leg but got caught at the boundary. But it was too late for the hosts to make a comeback as Jaiswal and Tilak Varma finished the game in the next over.
Earlier, Arshdeep Singh’s three-fer and twin strikes by Kuldeep Yadav helped India restrict West Indies to 178/8.
Opting to bat first, West Indies started off on attacking note with Kyle Mayers hitting 14 in the first over off Axar Patel. Arshdeep, however, got him out in the next over. He struck again in the last over of powerplay to get Brandon King out.
But it was Kuldeep Yadav’s first over, rather the first ball, of the spell that completely switched the momentum towards India as he got both Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell out.
Shai Hope (45 off 29) making a comeback in the T20I squad kept finding boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking during the middle overs. Shimron Hetmyer (61 off 39) helped West Indies finish close to 180 and post a challenging total on the board for this ground.
The teams will be playing the series-decider on Sunday.
