India put in a near-perfect performance against the West Indies in the fourth T20 to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in Florida on Saturday.
Sizeable contributions from most of India's batsmen and bowlers saw Rohit Sharma's team first post 191-5 before dismissing the Caribbean side for 132 in 19.1 overs at the Broward County Stadium.
Arshdeep Singh led the bowling effort for India, the left-arm medium-pacer continuing to impress with his clever combination of swing and seam to take 3-12. Among all bowlers who are auditioning for a spot in India's first-choice T20 squad, Singh has impressed the most with his control, swing and pace. He should expect to start ahead of more established bowlers from now on.
The game was delayed for 45 minutes after morning rain and West Indies hoped to take advantage by bowling first.
But those plans were ruined when India captain Sharma, recovered from a back spasm which forced him to retire in the third T20 on Tuesday, and Suryakumar Yadav took 25 runs from the third over bowled by medium-pacer Obed McCoy.
By the time both openers were dismissed, India had blasted 61 runs in the powerplay.
“Conditions were not easy, we batted really well. Lot of thought with that,” Sharma said. “How we bowled was good to see as well. Pitch was so slow, and you can use that to your advantage.
"I thought we had a good score on the board but just could not take things for granted. Our bowlers did extremely well to keep making crucial breakthroughs."
West Indies pegged back India through the middle overs, but the visitors produced a decent ending thanks to Rishabh Pant’s 31-ball 44, Axar Patel’s 8-ball 20 not out and Sanju Samson’s 23-ball 30 not out.
McCoy produced West Indies' best T20 bowling figures of 6-17 in the second game on Monday, and five days later suffered the teams worst bowling figures of 2-66.
For West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran, the margin of the defeat was just another reminder of the amount of work required by the two-time former champions ahead of the qualifying phase for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October.
His dismissal for 24, run out after carting left-arm spinner Patel for a succession of boundaries, typified West Indian frustration.
"The series may be over as a contest but the final match gives other players a chance to put their hands up ahead of the World T20," said Pooran.
"They had gotten off to a flying start batting first but I was really happy at least with the way the bowlers stuck to the task."
Seamer Avesh Khan put in his best effort of the tour with figures of 2-17 from four overs. The rest of the wickets were shared by Singh, spinners Ravi Bishnoi (2-27) and Patel (2-48).
