In the third and final ODI of the series, India, after opting to bat, were bowled out for 265 against West Indies in Ahmedabad. For the second time in a row, India, after being three down early, were revived by their middle order through a couple of useful contributions. If in the second ODI on Wednesday, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav bailed India out of trouble, today it was Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer.
The two batters came together at 42/3, after Alzarri Joseph knocked over Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the same over and then Odean Smith accounted for the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan. Playing his first match of the series having recovered from Covid-19, Iyer along with Pant added 110 runs for the fourth wicket. Both batters dug deep and got well set for a century, but just when it seemed like a three-figure mark was there for the taking, their innings ended.
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Pant was batting on 54 when he tried to late cut the ball and was out caught behind. Iyer batted brilliantly, taking his score to 80 before holing out to long off. Even though India crossed 250 to give themselves a good chance of a 3-0 whitewash – since West Indies are yet to cross 200 in the series – India's wait for an individual feat prolonged on Friday. This was the 10th ODI match in a row that India's innings did not witness an individual century, the second-longest streak in the format.
The last time an India batter scored an ODI century was last year when KL Rahul recorded 108 during the 2nd game of the series against England. The last time India went this long without a century being scored in ODIs was 11 years ago, way back in the year 2011, with no batter scoring a hundred across 12 games.
Once both the set batters departed, India stuttered a little but useful contributions from Deepak Chahar (38) and Washington Sundar (33) propelled India to over 265. Jason Holder grabbed 4/34 while Joseph and Hayden Walsh picked up two wickets each.