Arshdeep's 18th Over Settles Indore: India Defend 223 and Lead the Series 2-1

Two days after India made 249 in Ranchi and lost, they made 26 fewer in Indore and won. That tells you something about how little a total means on its own in this series. What matters is who holds their nerve in the overs that decide it, and on Saturday night that was Arshdeep Singh. He came back for the 18th over with West Indies five down and Sherfane Rutherford still in, took two wickets in four balls, and the chase did not recover.

India were put in, and Abhishek Sharma's 69 from 30 balls, with five sixes, carried them past 100 in the eighth over. A middle-order wobble followed, but the lower order kept swinging and India finished on 223, all out off the final ball. India 223 (20 overs). West Indies 209/7 (20 overs). India won by 14 runs and lead the five-match series 2-1.

Sanju Samson, India's top scorer in Ranchi, fell for 3 in the second over, caught by Pooran off Shamar Joseph. It hardly slowed India down. Abhishek reached fifty from 18 balls, Kishan hit six fours in his 37 from 18, and the two added 108 from 40 balls. India had 87 for 1 at the end of the powerplay and 100 in 7.2 overs.

Then came the wobble. Roston Chase had Kishan stumped by Shai Hope at 115 and trapped Shreyas Iyer lbw two balls later. India reviewed that one and the on-field decision stood on umpire's call. Abhishek was caught and bowled by Springer at 124, so three wickets had gone for nine runs, and Naman Dhir followed at 135. From there India needed someone to keep the innings moving, and several players did a bit each. Tilak Varma made 28 from 16 before he was run out, Nitish Kumar Reddy 21 from 14, Axar Patel 20 from 14, Arshdeep 11 from 8 with a six, and Prince Yadav 13 not out from six balls with three fours. No one went big after drinks, but India added 99 after being 124 for 4, and that turned out to be enough.

The defence began with Arshdeep bowling Hope for 5 in the second over. Mayank Yadav's four overs for 34 kept a lid on the start, and Naman Dhir, who had taken three wickets in Lucknow, bowled Hetmyer to end a 60-run stand and later had Pooran caught by Arshdeep. Axar removed Rovman Powell, and Nitish Reddy broke the Rutherford–Sampson stand at 151. Tilak Varma held two catches.

West Indies did not deserve to lose by much, and in the end they didn't. Hetmyer's 43 from 26, with six fours and two sixes, and Kamil Pooran's 42 from 27 kept them close enough to the rate. They were 105 for 4 after 11 overs and 151 for 5 after 15.3, needing 73 from 27 balls. That was a big ask, though not an impossible one on this ground, and Rutherford was still there on 32.

Arshdeep's 18th over ended it. Keemo Paul was caught by Tilak off the second ball and Rutherford was bowled off the fifth, and West Indies were 174 for 7 needing 50 from 13 balls. Shamar Springer then hit four sixes in an unbeaten 35 from 11 balls, and he and Chase added 35 from 13, enough to make the margin look respectable.

With the ball, Chase again stood out. He took 2 for 38 three days after his 3 for 24 in Ranchi, and the wickets of Kishan and Iyer were what pulled India back. Springer (2 for 50) and Joseph (2 for 54) were expensive, but West Indies bowled India out, which on a ground like this is something. The two run-outs in India's innings, Tilak and Axar, were sharp work in the field.

Indore lived up to its reputation for runs: 432 in 40 overs, 21 sixes, and both teams scored at more than ten an over. Pace and spin went for runs alike. Mayank Yadav, at 8.5 an over, was the only bowler in the match to go for less than nine. Unlike Ranchi, the side batting first won, and the gap was small: West Indies stayed within reach until the 18th over and fell short mainly because they lost wickets at the wrong moments.

Arshdeep's three for 44 might look ordinary on a scorecard, but where his wickets came is what made them count. He bowled Hope in the second over, removing the man who had won Ranchi before he could settle. He came back for the 18th, with Rutherford set and Paul just in, and took both of them in four balls. In Ranchi he had gone wicketless for 45, and this was the reply. His 11 from 8 balls, with a six, before he was given lbw to Springer off the last ball of the 19th over (India reviewed, and it stood), added to a total that was defended by exactly 14 runs. Death bowling at a ground like Indore is mostly about damage limitation. Arshdeep managed to take wickets as well, and that is what won India the match.

Our preview did not pick a winner. It said Indore "favours the bold" and that conditions could override form, but it leaned toward West Indies' power hitters and said the side chasing under dew could hold a decisive edge. The side batting first won, so the chasing edge didn't hold. We were right about the runs, though: the match produced 432 of them.

Our India player to watch, Ishan Kishan, made 37 from 18 in a 108-run stand that set up the total, which is a fair return. Our West Indies pick, Nicholas Pooran, was not in the XI for the third match running. Kamil Pooran played and made 42. We named Alzarri Joseph and Akeal Hosein as West Indies' key bowlers, and neither of them played. We expected Abhishek and Kishan to open for India, but Samson opened with Abhishek and Kishan batted at three. We did not mention Arshdeep as a likely match-winner, and he won it.

India won in Lucknow, West Indies in Ranchi, and India in Indore, so India lead the five-match series 2-1. The 4th T20I is in Hyderabad on October 14 and the series ends in Bengaluru on October 17. Win in Hyderabad and India take the series. For West Indies, Hyderabad is a match they have to win, and their batting is probably good enough to do it, provided someone is still there in the 18th over.