India defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third and final T20I of three-match series on Wednesday here at the Wankhede Stadium.
With this win, India won the three-match series 2-1.
Chasing 241, West Indies got off to the worst start possible as they lost their opener Brandon King (5) in the second over of the innings. Five runs later, Mohammad Shami sent Lendl Simmons (7) back to the pavilion, reducing West Indies to 17/2.
Next, Deepak Chahar got among the wicket-taking charts as he sent back Nicholas Pooran (0) in the fourth over and West Indies were left starring down the barrel.
Skipper Kieron Pollard next came out to bat, and he along with Shimron Hetmyer retrieved the innings for the visitors. The duo put on 74 runs for the fourth wicket, but their resistance was finally ended by Kuldeep Yadav in the 10th over as he dismissed Hetmyer (41), reducing Windies to 91/4.
Twelve runs later, Kuldeep struck again as he sent back Jason Holder (8) back to the pavilion. Pollard (68) tried his best to keep West Indies in the match, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar finally got rid of him in the 15th over and it proved as the final nail in the coffin.
West Indies kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and in the end, the side fell short off the target by 67 runs.
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Earlier, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma's knocks of 91 and 71 respectively enabled India to post a score of 240/3 in the allotted twenty overs.
Openers Rohit and Rahul provided a quickfire start to India as they put on 72 runs in the opening six overs. Rohit also went on to register his 400th international six in the match.
Sharma continued to wreak havoc on Windies' bowlers and as a result of his efforts, India brought up the score of 100 in just eight overs. The right-handed Sharma also went past the 50-run mark in just 22 balls.
In the 10th over, Rahul brought up his consecutive fourth half-century in the shortest format of the game. West Indies finally got the breakthrough in the 12th over as Kesrick Williams dismissed Rohit (71).
Rishabh Pant (0) once again failed to leave a mark as he was sent back to the pavilion by Windies skipper Kieron Pollard, reducing India to 138/2.
Skipper Virat Kohli next came out to bat and he along with Rahul ensured that the side keeps on scoring runs at a steady pace.
Kohli batted in an aggressive manner throughout and as a result, he brought up his half-century of just 21 balls.
Sheldon Cottrell dismissed Rahul (91) in the final over innings, but India managed to go past the 240-run mark in the allotted twenty overs. Kohli remained unbeaten on 70 runs off just 29 balls.
Both the sides will now next lock horns in the first ODI of the three-match series on Sunday, December 15.
Brief Scores: India 240/3 (KL Rahul 91, Rohit Sharma 71, Kieron Pollard 1-33) defeat West Indies 173/8 (Kieron Pollard 68, Shimron Hetmyer 41, Deepak Chahar 2-20) by 67 runs.