India beat West Indies by 67 runs in the third and final Twenty20 international in Mumbai on Wednesday to clinch the series 2-1.

The hosts restricted West Indies to 173/8 in their chase of 241 with skipper Kieron Pollard hitting a valiant 68 off 39 balls.

India posted a formidable 240/3 after Rohit Sharma (71), KL Rahul (91) and skipper Virat Kohli (70 not out) combined to pulverise the West Indies bowling.

Rahul was determined, Rohit was elegance personified while Kohli was at his animated best in India’s series-winning 67-run victory over the reigning world champions.

The ‘Maximum City’ witnessed the maximum entertainment as the trio of Rahul, Rohit and captain Kohli combined to pulverise the West Indies bowling to post a total which completely took factors like, dew, flat track out of equation in the second half.

An asking rate of 12 from the start would be Herculean for any team and West Indies in the end managed only 173 Mohammed Shami (2/25 in 4 overs) enjoying a good outing in his first game of the series and a return to the shortest format internationally after two years.

With a cushion of runs on the board, Deepak Chahar (2/20 in 4 overs) was also steady while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/41 in 4 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/45) also got wickets even though they were a bit expensive.

West Indies were never in contention and Pollard’s five sixes in familiar surroundings was nothing more than consolation for the visitors. With Evin Lewis suffering a soft tissue injury while fielding, the Windies did not have enough batting firepower on the night.

There were 16 sixes that lit up the Mumbai skyline with Rohit hitting five, Rahul four and Kohli had seven of them in all.

India needed a good start after losing the toss in chasing-friendly conditions but Rohit and Rahul made it a brilliant one as they conjured 135 runs in 11.4 overs.

The true nature of the pitch with no lateral movement only made it easier as the batsmen could hit through the line. Rohit in particular pulled with disdain and also got on one knee to hit the slog sweep into the cow corner.

Rahul was more classical in his approach with shots square off the wicket, using the pace of the spinners’ deliveries to play it as late as possible.

But the man who made the difference between a good score and winning total undoubtedly was skipper Kohli, who again looked charged up, enjoying his battle with Kesrick Williams.

After Rishabh Pant’s disappointing second-ball duck at No 3, Kohli took it upon himself during the 95-run stand with Rahul as he out-thought the bowlers.

Jason Holder was taken for 54 runs in his 4 overs and the fifth bowling combination of left-arm spinner Khary Pierre (0/35 in 2 overs) and Pollard (0/33 in 2 overs) gave away 68 in their four. India smashed 27 off Pollard in the 19th over of the innings as it included three sixes by Kohli.

The two teams will now play three one-day internationals on December 15 (Chennai), December 18 (Visakhapatnam) and December 22 (Cuttack).

(With AFP and PTI inputs)