Arshdeep's Three Wickets Help India Beat West Indies by 14 Runs in Indore for 2-1 Lead

India are back in front in the five-match T20I series against West Indies. On Sunday night at Indore's Holkar Cricket Stadium, Shreyas Iyer's side defended 223 to win by 14 runs and take a 2-1 lead. Arshdeep Singh, named Player of the Match, took 3/44 and settled the chase with two wickets in the 18th over.

The result follows West Indies' record chase in Ranchi two days earlier, when Shai Hope's hundred levelled the series (see our earlier coverage).

A blistering start, then a wobble

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl, and for most of the first eight overs that looked like a mistake. Sanju Samson fell cheaply in the second over. After that, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan took the West Indies attack apart. Abhishek reached his fifty off 18 balls, and India were 87/1 at the end of the powerplay. Along the way he became only the sixth Indian to reach 2,000 runs in men's T20Is.

The pair added 108 for the second wicket before off-spinner Roston Chase changed the game. In the ninth over he had Kishan stumped for 37 off 18 balls and then beat Iyer with a slower ball for 1. Shamar Springer removed Abhishek for 69 off 30 balls, an innings with six fours and five sixes. Naman Dhir fell soon after, and India slid from 115/1 to 135/5 in less than three overs.

The lower order did enough to recover. Tilak Varma (28 off 16), Nitish Kumar Reddy (21 off 14) and Axar Patel (20 off 14) all made useful starts. Two run-outs, including Tilak's, kept India from the 240-250 range that had looked likely at the halfway mark. India were bowled out for 223 off the last ball of the innings, when Shamar Joseph yorked Mayank Yadav. Chase finished with 2/38, and Springer and Joseph took two wickets each.

West Indies keep it close

Arshdeep struck early in the chase, bowling Hope for 5 with a ball that came back into the stumps. Shimron Hetmyer and Kamil Pooran then hit back hard. Hetmyer took 19 runs off one Arshdeep over and West Indies reached 54 after six overs. Naman Dhir broke the stand, bowling Hetmyer for 43 off 26 balls, and later had Pooran caught in the deep for 42. Dhir finished with 2/39 on a ground with short boundaries, which was a timely contribution from the young all-rounder.

West Indies were still in the hunt at 149/4 after 15 overs. Then Reddy removed Quentin Sampson, and Arshdeep took control in the 18th over. He dismissed Keemo Paul and then the dangerous Sherfane Rutherford, who had made 32 off 20 balls, leaving West Indies at 174/7. Springer hit Axar for three sixes and a four in the final over and finished unbeaten on 35 off 11 balls, but the target was too far away by then.

What it means

The margin flatters India slightly, because the middle-order collapse and loose running cost them at least 20 runs on a batting-friendly pitch. Still, the bowlers handled the pressure better than they did in Ranchi, where West Indies chased down 250. India now need one more win to secure the series, with the fourth T20I in Hyderabad on October 14 and the final match in Bengaluru on October 17.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.