3rd ODI: Shikhar Dhawan slams ton, India win series 2-1 against West Indies

Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava

Kanpur: Shikhar Dhawan’s dream run in 2013 continued as the left-hander slammed yet another ton that guided Indian team to a five-wicket win against West Indies, with which India also clinched the series 2-1. SCORECARD» | COMMENTARY» | AS IT HAPPENED» The highlight of the match was Shikhar Dhawan`s 119 off 95 balls and Yuvraj Singh`s patient knock of 55 runs as India won the match with 23 balls remaining. Put in to bat first, Windies lost the wicket of Johnson Charles early in the innings. From there on, Kieran Powell and Marlon Samuels stitched a crucial 117-run partnership for the second wicket which was finally broken by Ashwin. West Indies lost some quick wickets in the middle overs but Darren Bravo and Darren Sammy added unbeaten 67 runs for the sixth wicket partnership which boosted their team’s score to 263 runs. Ashwin was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he scalped two wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja picked one wicket each. In reply, India lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma (4) and Virat Kohli (19) with 60 runs on the board. But Dhawan, who has been sublime form right throughout this year, once again rose to the occasion and along with Yuvraj Singh added 129 runs for the third wicket. Both these batsmen punished the Windies bowlers and even though Sunil Narine troubled Yuvraj on several occasions, the left-hander scored a half-century which would have come as a huge relief for him and the team management. Towards the end, it was a cakewalk for the Indian team and Dhoni played a cut shot off spinner Permaul for the winning runs. Dhawan was declared the Man of the Match while in-form Virat Kohli was adjudged the Man of the Series. India will now tour South Africa where they will play three ODIs and two Test matches. The first Test will begin from December 5.