INDIA whipped West Indies by seven wickets on Tuesday to stay alive in their five-match T20 series, at Providence Stadium, Guyana. Needing to win to avoid going down 0-3, India limited the hosts to 159 for five, despite West Indies being 73 for one at the halfway mark.

Windies skipper Rovman Powell (40 not out off 19) and opener Brandon King (42 off 42) were the only batsmen to make their mark. The in-form Nicholas Pooran had his lowest score of the series, outfoxed by spinner Kuldeep Yadav for 20 off 12 balls.

India lost their openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (1) and Shubman Gill (6) cheaply, but Suryakumar Yadav (83),Tilak Varma (49 not out) and Hardik Pandya (20 not out) dominated the Windies bowling to secure their first win of the series, with 2.1 overs to spare.

As the series shifts to Florida for the final two T20 matches, West Indies coach Daren Sammy and Powell have much to ponder. No 3 batsman Johnson Charles continues to be bamboozled by spin. For the series he has registered meagre scores of 12, two and three. Guyana's Shimron Hetmyer is also yet to really contribute with the bat since being recalled.

Barbadian Roston Chase replaced the injured all-rounder Jason Holder in the third T20, but his off-spin does not provide a genuine wicket-taking threat. After the first T20 in Trinidad, Powell said the team is looking for a spinner to partner left-arm orthodox Akeal Hosein. Guyanese spinner Gudakesh Motie was the West Indies' top wicket-taker in the ODI series but was not selected for the T20s.

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