NEW DELHI: The Hardik Pandya led young Indian side took the five-match T20I series against the West Indies to the decider, after making a valiant comeback in the third and fourth T20Is. But on Sunday, they were outclassed by the West Indies in the fifth match to lose the series 2-3.

No team has made a successful comeback from 0-2 down in the T20I series and India also failed to change the outcome in the deciding match in Florida.
As it happened: India vs West Indies, 5th T20I

India managed to post 165 for 9 after opting to bat first, and West Indies chased down the target in 18 overs with eight wickets in hand. First, Romario Shepherd (4 for 31) helped the West Indies restrict India to a below-par score and then Brandon King (85 not out off 55 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (47 off 35) took the game away with a hundred-run partnership.

Here’s how India lost the series decider against the West Indies:
Openers fell cheaply
The young opening pair of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal came into the game after putting up a record 165 runs in the fourth T20I on Saturday, but failed to replicate the act on Sunday. Both became the victims of Akeal Hosein early in the innings. First it was Jaiswal (5), who fell to the spinner in the first over itself. Akeal came back in the third over to dismiss Gill (9), and reduced India to 17/2 in 2.5 overs.
No support for Surya
Suryakumar Yadav, who came out to bat at No.3, anchored the innings for India admirably but did not get much support from the other end. After the openers’ wickets, Surya and young Tilak Varma (27 off 18) resurrected the innings with a quick 49 runs stand in five overs, but after that wickets at regular intervals did not allow India to put up a competitive total. Surya finally fell in the 18th over after scoring 61 off 45 balls, which included three sixes and four fours.

Batting collapse
After a valuable 43-run stand, off six overs, between Surya and skipper Hardik Pandya (14 off 18), India suffered a batting collapse. India were 130/4 in 16.1 overs, but ended up posting just 165/9 in their 20 overs – which turned out to be 15-20 runs short. India lost their last five wickets for 35 runs in just 3.5 overs.
Rain stoppages and ineffective spinners
Indian innings was stopped twice due to rain in the death overs – first in the 16th over and again in the 20th over. Like West Indies, India were expected to give the new ball to a spinner, at least from one end. But the wet conditions meant Hardik started the attack with himself and Arshdeep Singh, who dismissed Kyle Mayers in his first over. But with little grip on the pitch due to rain and wet ball, India spinners needed the towel from the beginning and were less effective than their counterparts. Akeal Hosein (2/24) and Roston Chase (1/25) were among the wickets and economical too. In comparison, Kuldeep Yadav (0/18) and Yuzvendra Chahal (0/51) returned wicketless.

Pooran and King’s counter-attack
After Mayers’ wicket in the second over, Brandon King (85* off 55) and Nicholas Pooran (47 off 35) blew away the India attack with their aggressive intent. Pooran even started his scoring with three sixes, one off Arshdeep Singh (2nd over) and back-to-back maximums off Hardik Pandya in the third over. The duo put on a quick 107-run partnership, in 12 overs, to take the game away from India.

The finishing touch
It was the unlikely youngster Tilak Varma, who broke the King-Pooran partnership by removing the latter in the 14th over. It was Tilak’s first international wicket but it came little too late for India. West Indies were 119/2 in 13.2 overs when Pooran departed. King and Shai Hope (22* off 13) then made sure that there were no more hiccups and completed the chase in 18 overs, adding an unbeaten 52 runs for the third wicket in just 4.4 overs.