Rain Has the Last Word in Bengaluru: India vs West Indies 5th T20I Ends in No Result, Series Shared 2-2

A series this good deserved a final act, and for 46 balls on Saturday night it looked like it might get one. The Chinnaswamy's drainage did what it is famous for, the covers came off almost as soon as the rain eased, and the decider began as a nine-over sprint. India were 50 in 2.5 overs and 100 in 6.4. Then the rain came back, and this time it stayed. The last image of a five-match series that had swung from Lucknow to Ranchi to Indore to Hyderabad was groundstaff dragging covers across a square that had seen only half an innings.

India 118 for 5 (7.4 overs). West Indies did not bat. No result. The series finishes 2-2, and the shared trophy carries more weight than it might look: according to ESPNcricinfo's match report, it ends India's run of 12 consecutive home series wins stretching back four years. West Indies came to India for a long white-ball tour and leave without having lost the T20I series. That is a sentence few would have written in September.

West Indies won the toss and bowled, the obvious call with weather around, and Keemo Paul, the five-wicket hero of Hyderabad, struck in the first over. Abhishek Sharma tried to whip a good-length ball over midwicket, it came off high on the bat, and Shamar Joseph took it above his head in the ring. India were 13 for 1 after five balls.

It barely slowed them. Ishan Kishan hit three fours and two sixes in a 10-ball 30 before a back-of-length off-cutter from Joseph had him miscuing a pull to Rovman Powell at mid-on: 45 for 2 in the third over. The mandatory powerplay, cut to 2.4 overs, brought 46 runs. Sanju Samson, so dangerous in Hyderabad, made 16 from 7 before Shamar Springer swung a 128kph ball back through the gap and knocked out off stump. Shreyas Iyer, our pick to watch, made 22 from 14 before picking out Joseph at deep midwicket off Paul.

That left Naman Dhir, and for six balls he was magnificent. Three sixes and a four, 24 not out, and India had added 30 in 1.3 overs since Iyer fell. Springer had the last word, a wide yorker that Tilak Varma dragged onto his stumps with the fourth ball of the eighth over: 118 for 5 after 7.4 overs. Then the rain. Springer's 1.4-0-17-2 was the best of the bowling; curiously, as the match report noted, West Indies did not bowl Roston Chase, the leading wicket-taker of the series.

Had there been time for a five-over chase, West Indies would have needed 84. It would also, the report pointed out, have given Bhuvneshwar Kumar his first bowl in international cricket since 2022. Neither happened.

For West Indies, this tour has been a statement. The T20Is brought the chase of 250 in Ranchi, built on Shai Hope's 102 not out off 45 and Sherfane Rutherford's 84; then, in Hyderabad, their first successful defence of the series, with Hope making another 102 not out and Paul taking 5 for 41. In the ODIs that preceded the T20Is, they lost 2-1 but, as the report recalled, chased down 350 in the only match in which they batted second. Springer kept taking wickets right to the end, and on Saturday the catching held again: Joseph took two and Powell one, all from miscues that a nervier side might have spilled.

For India the batting never really let them down. Shreyas Iyer's 102 not out in Lucknow and Abhishek Sharma's 69 in Indore won two matches, and on Saturday they were scoring at more than 15 an over when it rained. The questions sit with the bowling, which watched West Indies chase 250 in Ranchi and post 247 for 3 in Hyderabad. Losing to a side that sets 247 is not a disgrace, but it does put a hard ceiling on what the batting can be asked to do. A shared series at home is not a failure. It is, however, the first time in four years that India have not won one, and it is a fair reflection of a contest neither team could close.

Our preview called this "a genuine 50-50 contest", and 7.4 overs gave us no reason to argue. We did say the toss might matter more than usual and that the captain who won it might choose to chase; West Indies won it and did exactly that, though the weather made the decision for them as much as the dew would have. Our India player to watch, Shreyas Iyer, got a start, 22 from 14, and then got out. Our West Indies pick, Shai Hope, never batted. We also suggested Gudakesh Motie's spin could be crucial on this ground; he bowled two overs for 25. No result means no verdict, and we won't claim one.

India have no time to dwell on it. According to the match report, the squad was due to fly to New Zealand the next morning, with the first of five T20Is there on Thursday, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar travels with them, still waiting for that first international over since 2022. West Indies head home with a 2-2 draw that will feel a lot more like a win. The Bengaluru decider will be remembered for what didn't happen, but the series before it was one of the best of the year.