Virat Kohli's ton goes in vain as West Indies win by 43 runs

Jason Holder and Co. finally managed to equal the 5-match series 1-1 with 2 more games to go

Virat Kohli’s 3^rd consecutive century for India went into the vain as West Indies registered their first-ever victory on the Indian soil in the ongoing series. While chasing a 284-run target in Pune, India lost the 3^rd ODI by 43 runs as they were bowled out with 16 balls to spare. On the other hand, Jason Holder and Co. finally managed to equal the 5-match series 1-1 with 2 more games to go.

In reply to West Indies’ 283, team India India had a poor start as the opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan failed to provide a decent start. West Indies skipper Jason Holder bowled Rohit Sharma out on 8, reducing the hosts on 9/1.

Virat Kohli joined Dhawan at the crease and continued his terrific batting performance once again. The duo added 79 runs for the 2nd wicket before Dhawan was sent packing by Ashley Nurse in the 18th over.

Rayudu was the next man to take the centre while Kohli continued hammering the opponent bowlers. He came up with his 49th ODI fifty in the 22nd over with a four while India needed 175 runs to win. The way these two tackled the West Indies bowlers, it seemed for a while that India may take the game home comfortably. However, soon the game turned upside down as wickets started falling at regular intervals.

In the 25^th over, Obed McCoy got rid of Amati Rayudu (22) and broke the 47-run partnership between him and Kohli for the 3^rd wicket. Rishabh Pant, who came to bat number 5 played a few mighty shots (1 six and 3 fours) but couldn’t provide a longer support to his captain. Pant departed in the 32^nd over and India were reduced to 172 /4.

MS Dhoni’s yet again failed to show some heroics with the bat and got dismissed cheaply. The veteran Indian wicketkeeper returned to the dressing room after scoring just 7 runs.

Meanwhile, Kohli slammed the 3rd consecutive century in this series and became the first Indian do so. However, the situation eventually bent towards West Indies’ side after Kohli got the three figures. In the 41^st over, Bhuvneshwar got out on 10 but right in the next over, the Indians lost all hopes with the dismissal of their skipper.

Marlon Samuels bowled Kohli out for 107 while India needed 64 more runs to win. The tail-enders – Yuzvendra Chahal (3), Khaleel Ahmed (3) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) failed to create any big difference while Kuldeep remained unbeaten on 12.