India A vs West Indies A: West Indies seal the series with a 45-run victory

India A lost the plot after Yuvraj Singh’s dismissal

West Indies A defeated India A by a margin of 45 runs in the third and final unofficial ODI at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore to clinch the series 2-1.

Winning the toss, India A captain Yuvraj Singh elected to bat on a surface that has offered plenty of runs so far in the series.

While West Indies played an unchanged side, India made two changes to their playing eleven with Baba Aparajith and Siddarth Kaul replacing Unmukt Chand and Sumit Narwal respectively.

West Indies openers Andre Fletcher and Kieran Powell got their side off to a good start by putting together 74 runs in 13.2 overs. With the fast bowlers not getting any breakthrough, Yuvraj summoned Shahbaz Nadeem into the attack.

The left-arm spinner responded immediately by sending back both Powell, who edged an attempted cut shot to Robin Uthappa at the first slip, for a 33-ball 40 and Fletcher, trapped plumb in front by an arm delivery, for a 52-ball 28.

However, India failed to build any pressure thereafter as Nadeem did not find any support from the other end with Kaul, Yusuf Pathan, Aparajith and Yuvraj leaking more than 6 runs per over consistently.

Kirk Edwards, finding able support from Jonathan Carter and Leon Johnson, made complete use of the lack of incisiveness in the Indian bowling attack by scoring a run-a-ball 104 to set a target of 313 for the home team.

Unadkat, who managed to pick up five wickets, exhibited some impressive death bowling skills showcasing his slower ones, yorkers and nippy bouncers.

In reply, India lost Uthappa, run out for a 28-ball 27 and Naman Ojha, edging an away-going delivery from Carter for a duck, to leave them two wickets down with a score of 46 in 9.5 overs.

Aparajith, opening the innings in the absence of Chand, and Yuvraj managed to keep India in the chase for the while by putting together a 112-run partnership in the next 19.3 overs.

The spinners Ashley Nurse and Veerasammy Permaul struck the vital blows by dismissing both Yuvraj, who scored a 59-ball 61, and Aparajith, who scored a 96-ball 78, in quick succession to derail India’s chase. Both the batsmen misread the pace on the deliveries to see their woodwork being disturbed by the slow bowlers.

From being four down for 181, India never managed to get going as they lost wickets at regular intervals to end up with a score of 267/8 at the end of 50 overs. Permaul picked up three wickets for the visitors.