Iyer and Pant help India sweep series against West Indies

India’s players pose for a picture with the trophy after their win in the third and final One-Day International against the West Indies in Motera yesterday. (AFP)

Iyer made 80 and Pant hit 56 to guide hosts to 265 after they lost three early wickets Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant hit half-centuries to set up a thumping 96-run victory for India in the third one-day international against the West Indies and sweep the series yesterday. Iyer, who made 80, and Pant, who hit 56, guided India to 265 after they lost three early wickets while batting first in Ahmedabad. Bowlers, led by pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj, then combined to bowl out the West Indies for 169 in 37.1 overs to seal their first ever ODI whitewash over their opponents. Siraj and fellow paceman Prasidh Krishna took three wickets apiece, while quick bowler Deepak Chahar and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also claimed two each. But it was the 110-run fourth-wicket partnership between Iyer and Pant that made India bounce back from 43-3, having lost two key wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for nought. Chahar and Washington Sundar, who made 33, got useful cameos before India were bowled out on the final ball of the 50th over. For the West Indies, pace bowler Jason Holder stood out with figures of 4-34. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph struck twice in the same over to take the wickets of Rohit (13) and Kohli - for the second time in the series - to rattle the hosts. Rohit edged an incoming delivery on to his stumps for 13 while Kohli, who scored eight and 18 in the first two matches, got caught behind in his attempt to flick the ball down the leg side. Dhawan, who returned to the team after recovering from Covid-19 along with Iyer, departed for 10 after a 26-ball stay. But the right-left batting pair of Iyer and Pant got going to rebuild the innings and take the attack to the West Indies bowlers. Iyer, the Player of the Match, said yesterday: “To be honest, life was really tough for me last two months. Had an infection and Covid, but this day has summed up for all those days. I am flexible to bat anywhere but No 4 is the best number to bat at.” He added: “If I am thrown into a pressure situation like today, I thrive on it and enjoy those moments. When I go in, like today’s situation, I had to play off the new ball. For that you need to have good skill and play close to the body. From there you need to set the rhythm through the innings. Its not easy, but if you focus on your skills you can do it.” Chahar, at number eight, played an attacking knock and put on 53 runs for the seventh wicket with Sundar before being caught behind off Holder who wrapped up the tail. The West Indies were never in the chase after Siraj trapped Shai Hope lbw for five in the fourth over and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Stand-in-skipper Nicholas Pooran, who led the side after regular captain Kieron Pollard missed the final two matches due to a niggle, made 34 and Odean Smith hit 36 off 18 balls. Meanwhile, vice-captain K L Rahul and Axar Patel have been ruled out of the upcoming three Twenty20 matches, the Board of Cricket for Cricket in India said yesterday. Rahul, who made 49 in India’s second ODI, suffered a left hamstring strain during fielding. Spinner Patel is in his final stage of rehabilitation after recently recovering from Covid. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Hooda have been named replacements for the T20s starting on Wednesday.SCOREBOARDIndia R. Sharma b Joseph 13 S. Dhawan c Holder b Smith 10 V. Kohli c Hope b Joseph 0 S. Iyer c Bravo b Walsh 80 R. Pant c ?Hope b Walsh 56 S Yadav c Brooks b Allen 6 W. Sundar c Smith b Holder 33 D. Chahar c Hope b Holder 38 K Yadav c Hope b Holder 5 M. Siraj b Holder 4 P. Krishna not out 0 Extras (lb1, nb1, w18) 20 Total (all out, 50 overs) 265 Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Rohit), 2-16 (Kohli), 3-42 (Dhawan), 4-152 (Pant), 5-164 (Suryakumar), 6-187 (Iyer), 7-240 (Chahar), 8-250 (Kuldeep), 9-261 (Sundar), 10-265 (Siraj) Bowling: Roach 7-0-39-0 (w3), Joseph 10-1-54-2 (w6), Smith 7-0-36-1 (w7, nb1), Holder 8-1-34-4 (w1), Allen 8-0-42-1, Walsh 10-0-59-2 (w1)

West Indies (target 266) S. Hope lbw b Siraj 5 B. King c Yadav b Chahar 14 D. Bravo c Kohli b Krishna 19 S. Brooks c Iyer b Chahar 0 N. Pooran c Rohit b Kuldeep 34 J. Holder c Rohit b Krishna 6 F. Allen c Pant b Kuldeep 0 A. Joseph c Kohli b Krishna 29 O. Smith c Dhawan b Siraj 36 H. Walsh c Rohit b Siraj 13 K. Roach not out 0 Extras (lb4, w9) 13 Total (all out, 37.1 overs) 169 Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Hope), 2-25 (King), 3-25 (Brooks), 4-68 (Bravo), 5-76 (Holder), 6-77 (Allen), 7-82 (Pooran), 8-122 (Smith), 9-169 (Walsh), 10-169 (Joseph) Bowling: Chahar 8-1-41-2 (w1), Siraj 9-1-29-3 (w2), Krishna 8.1-1-27-3 (w1), Kuldeep 8-0-51-2 (w2), Sundar 4-0-17-0 (w3) Result: India won by 96 runs Series: India sweep the three-match series 3-0