The return of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar into the side seemed to have given the much-needed strength to the Indian blowing attack in the 3rd ODI in Pune. The men in blue successfully restricted the West Indies at 283/9  in 50 overs; India need 284 runs to win.


Indian skipper Virat Kohli invited West Indies to bat first after winning the toss. Unlike the previous two encounters, the opening duo of Kieran Powell and Chandrapaul Hemraj looked a bit rusty as they failed to notch-up a decent ignition. The Caribbean guests lost their first man in the 6th over at a total of 25.






MS Dhoni took a terrific catch to remove Hemraj who top-edged the ball, expecting that it may fall at the no man’s land. India had their first breakthrough (Hemraj 15) while Jasprit Bumrah drew the first blood.


Shai Hope was the next man to join Powell at the crease. He was expected to repeat the performance he delivered in Vishakhapatnam; however, he hugely lacked support from the other end. In the 9th over, Bumrah struck again and removed Powell (21) while a few overs later, Khaleel Ahmed got rid of Marlon Samuels (9) to reduce the West Indies to 55/3.






Shimron Hetmyer and Hope then added 56 runs for the fourth wicket, taking West Indies past the 100-run mark. Just when the partnership looked settling, Hetmyer, while trying to go big, missed the ball before Mahendra Singh Dhoni made no mistake in dislodging his bails, leaving the visitors reeling at 111/4.


Kuldeep Yadav, who dismissed Hetmyer, also got the better off incoming batsman Rovman Powell, who could manage to contribute with just nine runs as the visitors were left at 121/5.


Skipper Jason Holder was then involved in a crucial 76-run partnership with Hope before Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck to pack back the former on individual score of 31.


The visitors, who were at 197/6, then lost Fabian Allen (5) and Hope soon, however, Ashley Nurse chipped in with valuable 40 runs down the order before becoming a victim of Bumrah as West Indies reached 283 runs in 50 overs.






Brief scores:


West Indies: 283/9 in 50 overs (Shai Hope 95; Jasprit Bumrah 4/35)