India crushed West Indies with a 96-point victory in the third one-day international to sweep the series 3-0 and give their new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma the perfect start.
Shreyas Iyer scored 80 from 111 and Rishabh Pant smashed 56 from 54 to take India to 265 after the hosts won the coin toss and opted to strike first in Ahmedabad on Friday.
In response, West Indies were knocked out for 169 in just 37.1 overs.
India got off to a poor start losing both Sharma (13) and Virat Kohli, caught behind for a two-ball duck, in the fourth over, with Alzarri Joseph (2-54) sending them back into space of three deliveries.
It marked another disappointing streak for former captain and hard hitter Kohli, who hasn’t scored an international hundred since November 2019. He’s scored 8, 18 and 0 over three innings in that streak.
Odean Smith (1-36) brushed aside Shikhar Dhawan to reduce India to 3-42 but Iyer, who hit nine fours, and Pant, six fours and a six, added 110.
Pant reached his fifth ODI half with 47 balls, while Iyer scored his ninth half with 74 deliveries.
“I’m flexible to hit any number. But given the current situation, four is a good number,” Iyer said.
As the middle order clicked to change, India looked set for a near 300 scoreline, but Hayden Walsh took it 2-59, deleting both Pant and Iyer.
Washington Sundar (33) and Deepak Chahar (38) added a quick 53-for-51 shot for the seventh wicket as Jason Holder (4-34) mopped up the bottom order.
In response, the West Indies batting slumped for the third consecutive time, with the visitors down 7-82 in 18.3 overs.
India delivered the opening blows with pace, Deepak Chahar (2-41) striking twice in the fifth to knock out Brandon King (14) and Shamarh Brooks (0).
Prasidh Krishna (3-27) then dismissed Darren Bravo (19) who added 43 with Nicholas Pooran (34), and also retired Holder (6).
Returning spinner Kuldeep Yadav took 2-51 as the West Indies pursuit fizzled out despite resistance late in the innings.
Smith (36) threw up his bat to push the score past 100, hitting three fours and three sixes in his 18-ball stay, while Joseph (29) and Walsh (13) added 47 for the ninth wicket then that Mohammed Siraj took 3- 29.
India had already won the first two ODIs at the same venue – the first match by six wickets with 132 balls to spare, and the second by 44 runs – to win an 11th consecutive bilateral ODI series against the West Indies since 2007.
The two teams will now travel to Kolkata to play a three-game T20 series at Eden Gardens, starting February 16.
