India flex batting muscle on their way to 351

50 overs India 351 for 5 (Gill 85, Kishan 77, Pandya 70*, Samson 51, Shepherd 2-73) vs West Indies

In the morning, Shai Hope won the toss and put India in. Kishan and Gill gave the side a brisk start of 143 in 19.4 overs. Both openers enjoyed the ball coming on to the bat, which was not the case in the first two ODIs in Bridgetown. Kishan relished his luck, too. He was dropped by Keacy Carty on 9, and survived a run-out chance on 63, but his positive intent meant he finished with 77 off 64 balls despite not always looking in control. It was his third half-century in as many matches in the series.

Early on, Kishan was troubled by Kyle Mayers. Bowling around the wicket with the new ball, Mayers beat his outside edge twice in three overs. Kishan responded by dancing down the track and hitting him for back-to-back fours.

Gill got to face just one ball in the first two overs and got off the mark in the third, with a pulled four off Seales. In the fast bowler’s next over, he picked up two more boundaries, the first via a short-arm jab and the second via a punch between cover and point.

Gill and Kishan took India to 73 for no loss by the end of the tenth over. When the field restrictions were relaxed, Gill focused on playing risk-free cricket. Kishan, meanwhile, kept going for his shots. First, he hit Alzarri Joseph a six and a four, and then drilled Gudakesh Motie down the ground. Another six, this time off Romario Shepherd, took him to 49 off 39 balls, and four balls later, he brought up his half-century.

Yannic Cariah broke the opening stand by having Kishan stumped for 77 off 64 balls. The legspinner beat him in the flight and with the turn as Kishan tried to use his feet.

Gaikwad, playing just his second ODI, didn’t last long and edged Joseph to first slip for 8.

Samson looked to attack right from the start, and hit three sixes in his first 13 balls. He was severe on Cariah, in particular, taking him for 28 runs off just ten balls. And even though Motie kept him quiet, conceding only four off 12 balls, Samson raced away to fifty in 39 balls.

Samson and Gill added 69 in just 8.5 overs, the latter contributing 18 off 12. The stand was broken when Samson, soon after his fifty, failed to clear mid-off against Shepherd. His wicket also put a brake on the scoring rate: Samson fell in the 32nd over; in the next eight, India managed only 23.

India lost Gill, too, during this phase. He was looking good for a hundred but fell for 85 off 92 balls; a length delivery from Motie got stuck in the pitch and Gill spooned it to short midwicket.

Batting at No. 6, Suryakumar Yadav gave a glimpse of his T20 fluency. He scored 35 off 30, which included a six on each side of the wicket behind the square. His innings was followed by a late acceleration from Pandya. He was on 11 off 22 at one stage. Off the next 30, he almost scored two runs per ball and took India past 350.