India defend 223 in Indore: Abhishek's 19-ball fifty and Arshdeep's 18th over put India 2-1 up against West Indies

Two days after West Indies chased 250 against them in Ranchi, India's bowlers had another big total to defend on one of the smallest grounds in the country. This time they defended it.

India were bowled out for 223 off the last ball of their innings at the Holkar Stadium, and West Indies finished on 209 for 7. The 14-run win puts India 2-1 up in the five-match series with two games to play.

Abhishek Sharma set it up with 69 off 30 balls. Arshdeep Singh, who went wicketless in Ranchi, finished it with 3 for 44, including two wickets in the 18th over that ended West Indies' last real push.

IND vs WI 3rd T20I: the scores

• India 223 all out in 20 overs: Abhishek Sharma 69 (30), Ishan Kishan 37 (18), Tilak Varma 28 (16), Nitish Kumar Reddy 21 (14), Axar Patel 20 (14); Roston Chase 2/38, Shamar Springer 2/50, Shamar Joseph 2/54
• West Indies 209/7 in 20 overs: Shimron Hetmyer 43 (26), Kamil Pooran 42 (27), Shamar Springer 35* (11), Sherfane Rutherford 32 (20); Arshdeep Singh 3/44, Naman Dhir 2/39
• Toss: West Indies won and chose to field
• Result: India won by 14 runs
• Series: India lead 2-1, with two games to play

Abhishek's assault, then a collapse

Sanju Samson fell for 3 early on, caught by Pooran off Shamar Joseph, and for a moment the debate about his place got louder. Then Abhishek took over. He reached his fifty off 19 balls, and with Ishan Kishan (37 off 18) he added 108 for the second wicket. India were 66 for 1 after five overs and 115 for 1 in the ninth, scoring at close to 14 an over.

West Indies came back through spin. Roston Chase had Kishan stumped by Shai Hope and trapped Shreyas Iyer lbw for 1 in the same over. Springer caught and bowled Abhishek in the 10th, and Gudakesh Motie removed Naman Dhir. India went from 115 for 1 to 135 for 5 in 15 balls.

The rest of the innings was a scramble. Tilak and Axar were both run out, India lost their last six wickets for 88 runs, and Mayank Yadav was bowled by Joseph off the final ball. India scored 90 in the second half of their innings after 133 in the first. On a ground where the average first-innings score is about 200, 223 was above par, but after Ranchi nobody in the stadium was treating it as safe.

The chase: Hetmyer and Pooran threaten, Dhir breaks through

Arshdeep struck in the second over, bowling Hope for 5. That mattered: Hope made 102 not out off 45 in Ranchi and had scored a fifty in Lucknow.

Hetmyer and Pooran then put on 60 for the second wicket in five overs, and West Indies were 67 for 1 after seven, right where they needed to be. India's answer came from an unexpected place. Naman Dhir bowled Hetmyer for 43, Axar had Rovman Powell caught by Kishan, and Dhir came back to remove Pooran for 42, caught by Arshdeep, just after the halfway mark.

At 10 overs West Indies were 98 for 3, 35 runs behind where India had been at the same stage and needing 126 off the last 60 balls. In Ranchi they had been level with India at halfway.

Arshdeep's 18th over

Rutherford was still there, and he was the batter India feared most after his 84 off 37 two days ago. When Nitish Kumar Reddy had Quentin Sampson caught by Tilak in the 16th over, West Indies were 151 for 5 and needed 73 off 27 balls. Still possible on this ground.

Arshdeep ended it in the 18th. Keemo Paul was caught by Tilak, and three balls later Arshdeep bowled Rutherford for 32. West Indies were 174 for 7 with 13 balls left and needed 50. Springer hit four sixes in an unbeaten 35 off 11, but by then the margin was only going to shrink, not disappear.

What changed for India's bowlers

The numbers from Ranchi and Indore side by side:

• Runs conceded: 252 in 18.3 overs in Ranchi, 209 in 20 overs in Indore
• West Indies sixes: 20 in Ranchi, 13 in Indore
• Wickets: 4 in Ranchi, 7 in Indore
• Mayank Yadav: 3 overs in Ranchi, all four in Indore (4-0-34-0)

The bowling figures:

• Mayank Yadav: 4-0-34-0
• Arshdeep Singh: 4-0-44-3
• Prince Yadav: 4-0-37-0
• Naman Dhir: 3-0-39-2
• Axar Patel: 3-0-33-1
• Nitish Kumar Reddy: 2-0-19-1

Nobody was cheap. Arshdeep and Dhir went at 11 and 13 an over. But India took wickets at regular intervals, and that is what they could not do in Ranchi, where West Indies lost only one wicket between the sixth over and the 15th. Mayank did not take a wicket this time, but he bowled his full quota at 8.5 an over, the most economical figures of anyone who bowled four.

West Indies also gave away 11 extras, including seven wides, in a match decided by 14 runs.

The worries that remain

India won, but two things from the batting will bother them. Samson made 3 and Iyer made 1, so India's top order outside Abhishek and Kishan has given them very little in Indore. And losing four wickets for 20 runs and two batters to run-outs on a flat pitch cost India at least 20 or 30 runs. Against a West Indies side that can chase anything, they may need those runs in Hyderabad.

What comes next

The fourth T20I is in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 14 October, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, starting at 7 PM IST. A win there seals the series for India with a game to spare. The fifth and final T20I is in Bengaluru on Saturday, 17 October.

Follow the 4th T20I live on TryBall: toss, playing XIs, live score and where to watch.