India beat West Indies by 14 runs in the third T20I at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the five match series.
India scored 223/9 in 20 overs before restricting West Indies to 207/7. The match also showed why Indian pitches should offer some help to bowlers instead of being completely dominated by batters.
Abhishek Sharma top scored for India with 69 off 30 balls, while Ishan Kishan contributed 37 off 18 balls.
India crossed the 200 run mark, but West Indies were still in the match during the chase. WI needed 224 to win, but regular wickets stopped them.
Arshdeep Singh was India’s key bowler, taking three wickets, while Naman Dheer also picked up important wickets.
Shimron Hetmyer scored 43 off 26 balls and Kamil Pooran made 42, but India kept finding breakthroughs when West Indies looked to build momentum.
The bigger point is the pitch. A total of 223 shows that batters had chances to score, but the bowlers were also able to make an impact.
This is the kind of match fans want to see. Batters should be able to play their shots, but bowlers should not have to depend only on mistakes to take wickets.
Too often, Indian cricket gets caught up in high scoring games and flat pitches. Big totals may attract attention, but if every surface heavily favours batters, the match can become one sided.
Pitch curators should prepare more balanced pitches that give both sides a fair chance. The Indore match proved that a high scoring T20 game can still give bowlers a role to play.
