India vs West Indies, 3rd ODI: 3 reasons why India lost the match
Virat won the toss and elected to field in the third match at Pune. The West Indies top order did not impress once again except for Shai Hope, who continued with his good form. Samuels once again bagged a low score as his unimpressive return to the Carribean national team continued. A lot depended on Hetmyer and Hope and they yet again looked set for a big partnership.
Hetmyer once again dazzled the crowd with some big blows but this time he did not convert the start and was dismissed for 37 by Kuldeep Yadav. Among the returning pace duo of Bhuvaneshwar and Bumrah, the latter proved to be a nightmare for the batsmen while Bhuvi looked a shadow of himself and gave away 70 runs in 10 overs. The Indian bowling lineup’s inability to pick up the lower order wickets hurt India badly once again as Nurse combined with Roach and added some very crucial runs for the Windies in the death overs. Nurse’s cameo took Windies to a respectable total of 283.
Chasing 284, Rohit failed and Dhawan got a good start but failed to convert it. Once again the side depended on Virat Kohli and he was outstanding as usual. He got some support from Rayudu but Mccoy dismissed Rayudu before their partnership could trouble West Indies. Pant’s innings was entertaining while it lasted while Dhoni disappointed everyone with yet another single digit score. Kohli scored his third consecutive century and looked set to finish the game but Samuels castled him and ended India’s hopes of winning the match.
Here are the 3 reasons for India’s loss:
#1 Inability to pick lower order wickets
The inability of the Indian bowler’s to pick lower order wickets has always been questioned and this habit once again proved to be the difference between the two teams. By the end of 40 overs, Windies were reeling at 211/6 and since India played a 5-man bowling attack, many expected Windies to score below 250. Shai Hope was dismissed by Chahal and the target looked set to be even lower than 250.
But Ashley Nurse combined with Roach and played a very vital knock that gave momentum to Windies while going into the innings break. What was surprising was Nurse’s assault of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in the 49th over, who is one of the best death bowlers in the world. He went for 21 runs.
Bumrah was impressive but India needed another bowler to step up which did not happen as Windies raced away to a match-winning total.