In a high-octane third T20 International at Indore’s Holkar Stadium, India secured a hard-fought 14-run victory over West Indies on Sunday, pushing the five-match series into a favorable position for the hosts at 2-1. The Windies, colloquially known as the Men in Maroon, made two strategic adjustments to their starting lineup ahead of the toss, bringing in fast bowler Keemo Paul and young batter Quentin Sampson to replace Shamar Springer and Romario Shepherd. After winning the coin toss, West Indies made the proactive decision to field first, and got the breakthrough they were hunting early, sending dangerous Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson back to the pavilion with just a handful of runs on the board. The early wicket failed to derail India’s innings, however, as left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan exploded into form with a blistering 108-run partnership off just 40 deliveries, putting India firmly on track for another mammoth total in excess of 200. Kishan notched 37 runs before being dismissed, while Sharma produced an explosive knock of 69 runs from only 30 deliveries to keep the scoreboard ticking at a runaway pace. Even after Sharma and Kishan fell in quick succession to the West Indies bowling attack, cameos from lower-middle order batters Tilak Varma (28 runs), Nitish Reddy (21 runs) and all-rounder Axar Patel (20 runs) propelled India to a formidable final total of 225 all out. In response, the West Indies chase got off to a rocky start, losing captain and in-form opener Shai Hope in the very early overs. Following a slow opening stand, Hope’s batting partner Kamil Pooran found his rhythm, crafting a well-paced 43 runs off 27 deliveries alongside Shimron Hetmyer, who matched Pooran’s output with an equally quick 43 of his own. However, the Windies batting unit struggled to maintain the required run rate through the middle overs, building unmanageable pressure on the lower order that would prove difficult to shake off. A late partnership between Sherfane Rutherford, who scored 32 runs off 20 balls, and Sampson, who contributed 21 runs off 15 deliveries, briefly gave West Indies a glimmer of hope of pulling off an upset chase. That hope was quickly snuffed out, though, thanks to a string of pinpoint yorkers from Indian left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, who finished with match-winning figures of 3 wickets for 44 runs. Springer hit a late, dazzling 35 runs off just 11 deliveries in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but the knock ultimately came too late to change the result. With the 14-run win, India also made history as the first team to win a match batting first on this limited-overs tour of the country. The series now heads to a pivotal fourth match on Wednesday, where West Indies will face a must-win encounter to level the five-game series.