With Samson then launching an all-out assault, Shubman Gill took the backseat. The young batter burst into attack mode and got to his fifty off 39 deliveries, but fell soon after, chipping one from Shepherd to mid-off. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya rebuilt with a 49-ball stand for 65 runs, and despite the loss of SKY, Pandya took charge of the slog overs and ensured 42 runs came off 19 balls, helping India get past the 350-run mark.

West Indies’ chase began with disaster. Mukesh Kumar wasted no time in getting rid of Brandon King, caught behind for a duck, and knocked over the stumps of Kyle Mayers soon after. The ever-dependable Shai Hope was snapped up by the young fast bowler too, reducing West Indies to 17-3 – a nightmare start given the circumstance, chasing 352 in a series decider.

Jaydev Unadkat got rid of Carty, one of the heroes of the last match, before Shardul Thakur snaffled up the important wickets of Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd, to send West Indies into a free fall at 50-6. Yannic Cariah and Alick Athanaze were just beginning to show some resistance, when Kuldeep Yadav knocked over the former, and soon after, had Cariah strapped in front to bring the score down to 88-8.

Just when the hosts were looking at an embarrassing sub-100 total in response to 351, Alzarri Joseph and Gudakesh Motie showed the kind of resistance that needed to be shown higher up the order, playing proper cricketing shots and putting on 55 for the ninth wicket in just short of 10 overs. It was never going to last, however, as Shardul had Joseph late on a hook, getting him to nick off to Kishan.

There was some controversy, as Kuldeep Yadav appealed against Jayden Seales, who was given out caught by the umpire, and the decision was reviewed by West Indies. As there was no bat, the catch was given not out. While checking for the LBW, however, the ball was shown to be hitting the stumps, but the impact showed umpire’s call. As the on-field umpire hadn’t given  it LBW, the umpire’s call for LBW was technically “not out”, and Seales was given not out.

However, it wasn’t a high-stakes controversy for India, as Shardul Thakur knocked over Seales’ stumps for good measure, picking up his fourth wicket and sealing a 200-run victory for India. Shubman Gill was adjudged the man of the match for his 85.

This win seals the series 2-1 in favour of India, as the teams move on to the five-match T20 series to be played between August 3 and 13, 2023.

Brief scores:

India 351/5 in 50 overs (Shubman Gill 85, Ishan Kishan 77, Hardik Pandya 70*, Romario Shepherd 2-73) beat  West Indies 151-10 in 35.3overs (Gudakesh Motie 39*, Alick Athanaze 32, Shadul Thakur 4-37, Mukesh Kumar 3-30) by 200 runs