By Neto Baptiste
West Indies claimed their five-match T20 International Series against India 3-2 on Sunday, after beating the visitors by eight wickets in the fifth and final match in Lauderhill, Florida.
Led by a stellar knock of 85 from 55 deliveries by opener Brandon King, West Indies overhauled the 165 for nine posted by India with 12 balls to spare, and also following a brief delay in their chase due to bad weather.
King struck five fours and six maximums to help guide West Indies to 171 for two in 18 overs. Nicholas Pooran chipped in with a valuable 47 off 35 balls before he was caught by Hardik Pandya off the bowling of Tilak Varma. Shai Hope made 22 not out.
There was one wicket each for Arshdeep Singh (1/20) and Varma (1/17).
Earlier, player of the match Romario Shepherd, claimed four wickets for 31 runs in four overs to help limit India’s scoring with only Suryakumar Yadav showing resistance with 61 off 45 balls. He struck four fours and three maximums before he was lbw to Jason Holder. Varma contributed with 27 from 18 before he was caught and bowled by Chase.
Holder picked up two for 36 and Akeal Hosein bagged two for 24 in four overs.
India had claimed the fourth match by nine wickets to level the series at 2-2 on Saturday.
The touring Indians had previously won the two-match Test series 1-0 and the three-match ODI series 2-1.
