AHMEDABAD: Prasidh Krishna's four-for and Suryakumar Yadav's fighting knock of 63 powered India to a 44-run victory against West Indies in the second One-Day International in Ahmedabad, allowing them to seal the series with one match remaining.

After being put in to bat by West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran, India found themselves in trouble. Rohit Sharma was caught behind off Kemar Roach's bowling in the third over of the innings, with only nine runs on the board.

With KL Rahul returning to the side in place of Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant was promoted to bat at the top of the order but failed to make an impact, departing in the 12th over after a brief 30-run partnership with Virat Kohli. The former India captain was also unable to stay in the middle for long, as Odean Smith dismissed him in the same over.

With the scoreboard reading 43/3, India was looking down the barrel, but KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav held their nerve and stabilized the ship. The pair continued batting sensibly and risk-free. Rahul received a life early in his innings when Shai Hope missed a chance behind the stumps off Roach's bowling, but he seemed keen to make the most of it as he batted on.

The 29-year-old was on his way to his fifty in the 30th over, but his innings was cut short on 49 when a misunderstanding between him and Yadav resulted in his run out. Deepak Hooda came in to bat next, and Yadav put on another useful 43-run stand with him. But, after he miscued a sweep off Fabian Allen's bowling, he had to depart for a well-made 63 just as both of them were seeking to accelerate.

Then, India continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, and they could only reach a total of 237/9 in their allotted overs.

The hosts needed early wickets to defend this target, but Shai Hope and Brandon King got the West Indies off to a terrific start, scoring 32 runs in seven overs. However, Prasidh Krishna rose to the challenge and handed India breakthroughs in back-to-back overs, dismissing both King and Darren Bravo caught behind.

Hope fought to stay, but he gave in to the pressure when Yuzvendra Chahal was brought into the attack. In the 17th over, West Indies were reduced to 52/3 and required a huge knock from their skipper Pooran. But Krishna came out strong once more when Pooran edged out to Rohit Sharma in the slips a few overs later.

The West Indies never recovered from that situation because the Indian bowlers kept piling on the pressure. With knocks of 34 and 24 down the order, respectively, Akeal Hosein and Odean Smith tried their best to keep the visitors in the hunt, but their contributions were not enough as West Indies fell short by 44 runs in the end.

With this victory, India clinched the series, and they will now be looking for a clean sweep when they face the visitors in the third and final ODI on 11 February.

Edited - SportsAction / Inputs - Agency