India hold off West Indies in third T20I to take 2-1 series lead

Abhishek Sharma struck a quick 69 before Arshdeep Singh's three wickets helped India to a 14-run win over the West Indies in the third T20 international on Sunday.

Opener Abhishek's 30-ball assault guided India to 223 all out, a total their bowlers defended by restricting West Indies to 209-7 in Indore, giving them 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

"It was wonderful to see the bowlers being confident," India captain Shreyas Iyer said.

"The clarity was very much visible when I was interacting. They were ready to take up the challenge and that's what we want."

The previous two games had been won by the team batting second, as the West Indies knocked off a target of 250 to level the series on Friday, pulling off the second highest successful chase in T20Is.

Abhishek handed India a quick start as he put on 108 runs with fellow left-hander Ishan Kishan, who made 37, after India were put in to bat.

Sanju Samson fell for just three before India's batters responded with regular boundaries, Abhishek reaching his fifty off 18 balls.

Spinner Roston Chase broke the stand as he removed Kishan and then dismissed Iyer for one in the same over.

Pace bowler Shamar Springer cut short Abhishek's knock, which featured six fours and five sixes, as India began to wobble.

'Little margins'

Tilak Varma (28) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) kept the score ticking over as wickets continued to fall.

Lower-order contributions from Axar Patel, who hit 20, and Prince Yadav, who made an unbeaten 13 off six balls, boosted the total.

"Probably with the ball, we could've executed a little bit better," said West Indies skipper Shai Hope. "So those little margins would be the deciding factor come the end of the game."

In reply, West Indies Hope, who made an unbeaten 102 in the previous series-levelling win, for five off left-arm quick Arshdeep before Shimron Hetmyer hit the same bowler for a six and three fours in a 19-run over.

Hetmyer made 43 off 26 balls before being dismissed by Naman Dhir and Rovman Powell fell for five as West Indies slipped in their chase.

Dhir struck again to send back opener Kamil Pooran, who hit a 27-ball 42, to reduce the opposition to 105-4 in the 11th over.

Sherfane Rutherford attempted to repeat his heroics for the second game, clubbing 32 off 20 before Arshdeep bowled him in the 18th over to effectively extinguish West Indies' hopes.

The fourth match is on Wednesday in Hyderabad.