Runs continued to flow like a torrent, the wicket once again was flat in the first half of the game and the batsmen went for big hits — 29 sixes in all. West Indies posted a mammoth 247 for three, and India, as expected, started strongly, thanks to Sanju Samson’s 56 from 22. But once he was dismissed, despite a 70-run partnership between Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy, India were always playing catch-up. The wicket slowed down towards the second half of the Indian innings but credit must go to the West Indies bowlers for sticking to their plans and pulling off a 24-run win to level the five-match series 2-2.None of the Indian batsmen carried on to make a big score, like West Indian captain Shai Hope who scored his second century of this T20 series.After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, the pace bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Mayank Yadav started poorly.Arshdeep, who was the Player of the Match in the previous game, struggled to find his line and length.The architects of an important win! #ShaiHope’s sensational & #KeemoPaul’s 5️⃣-fer helped #WestIndies stay alive in this series. #INDvWI | 5th T20I SAT, OCT 17, 6 PM https://t.co/0OG0x3mYTD— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 14, 2026His yorkers with the new ball lacked venom, and his slower balls were too predictable for the West Indian batters. It was not just the left-armer. His opening partner, Mayank, bowled with pace in the early overs but lacked control. His hard-length deliveries, which usually trouble batsmen, were too short.Left-arm spinner Axar Patel did his job again by getting the breakthrough in the powerplay, dismissing debutant Jewel Andrew with an undercutter. But this did not put the brakes on the Windies batting line-up. With the lack of a fifth bowling option, India looked short of ideas when the ball was flying all around the stadium in Uppal.Also Read | Skipper Shai the only reason for Hope for West IndiesNaman Dhir, who has picked up wickets consistently this series, was only used for one over today, which went for 19 runs. The responsibility of bowling the remaining quota of that fifth bowler fell to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who conceded 39 runs.While all the other bowlers were smashed around, conceding at a rate exceeding 11 runs per over, Prince Yadav figured out what the pitch demanded, using clever variations and sharp yorkers. He ensured that whenever he bowled, he kept the batters in check and also picked up a brilliant catch off his own bowling to dismiss Shimron Hetmyer, who had smashed 33 runs from just 12 deliveries by then. He was the most economical of the Indian bowlers conceding 36 runs in his quota of four overs and taking a wicket.Story continues below this adLast time Samson played a T20I in Hyderabad, he entertained the fans by scoring a sublime century against Bangladesh. Today’s innings might not have been as long, but it was breathtaking. Chasing 248 runs, the right-hander set the tone immediately. Off-spinner Roston Chase, who is a favourable match-up for Samson, went for 30 runs off just 11 deliveries. Abhishek Sharma, usually the aggressor in the partnership, had to play second fiddle. However, the left-hander could not shift into a higher gear through the evening.Once Samson’s wicket fell, though, India lost their way through the middle overs. Kemo Paul dismissed Samson with a short ball that cramped him, and soon after, he picked up Ishan Kishan, who flicked the ball straight to a mid-wicket fielder. Shreyas Iyer, who averages 40.81 in chases, too perished to Shamar Springer while trying to carve the ball through the off-side and was caught at third man.1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ T20I Sixes & counting for Chetta! Two consecutive maximums by #SanjuSamson, including sending a 149 KPH delivery soaring into the stands! 勞#INDvWI 4th T20I | LIVE NOW https://t.co/u6TUkXnpvZ https://t.co/C0PbcOvSIf— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 14, 2026Tilak-Nitish partnership did give the Indian team hope, but there was too much left to do for them in the end. When the duo got together, India still needed 118 runs from 50 deliveries. Tilak, who embraces pressure situations like these, did threaten to take the game away. He identified fast bowler Romario Shepherd as the weaker link in this bowling lineup and attacked him, to keep India in the chase.Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who knows these conditions as well as anyone as he plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad, took the initiative against Shamar Joseph by hitting back-to-back sixes, that injected the required momentum into the innings. An evening that went to plan for Hope and his bowlers for the most part started to go wrong. Then came a miscue from Tilak against Shepard, which gave West Indies the breakthrough they were looking for.As has been the trend during the IPL season, once the ball got 10 overs old, it tends to stick in the surface, and bowlers with clever, smart variations come into play. Paul, who had already picked up a couple of early wickets, had a skill set tailor-made for these conditions. He scalped the all-important wicket of Nitish, which ended India’s chances on the night. He followed it up with a gem of a delivery to Prince and got rid of Axar to complete his second five-wicket haul.