Shikhar Dhawan

India registered a series victory over West Indies after the world champions sealed a comfortable five-wicket victory in the third and final One Day International (ODI) in Kanpur on Wednesday.

The latest ODI series victory for India came after a clean sweep in the two-match Test series against the West Indies, which saw Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar play his final two international games.

Before the third ODI at Kanpur, the series was level at 1-1 as India lost the second ODI after winning the opening match at Kochi. MS Dhoni won the toss early in the morning and elected to field.

India were successful in getting an early breakthrough as Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled Johnson Charles for 11, sending the dangerous opener back to the pavilion in the fifth over. However, Kieran Powell and Marlon Samuels steadied the West Indies innings as they went on to build a 117-run partnership for the first wicket.

The two kept the scoreboard ticking, but were unable to improve the run rate of the visitors and Powell finally fell for 70. The responsibility was then shifted to Darren Bravo, and the left-handed batsman lived up to the expectation scoring yet another half century in the ODIs.

Meanwhile, West Indies lost quick wickets in the middle before Bravo and Darren Sammy's knock at the end saw the visitors post a defendable total. They managed 263 for the loss of five wickets from their full quota of 50 overs.

In their chase to the series victory, India lost Rohit Sharma cheaply as the right handed batsman was dismissed after scoring four runs. Virat Kohli was also unable to find form and was sent back to the pavilion for 19.

Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh came to India's rescue as their partnership of 129 for the second wicket saw the hosts reach closer to yet another series victory on home soil. Yuvraj was dismissed after scoring a cautious half century and Dhawan fell after scoring a match-winning knock of 119 from 95 deliveries.

India cruised to victory with Dhoni winning the match for his side with a boundary. The hosts won the game by five wikcets and with 23 balls to spare.

India