Gayle's fiery knock takes Windies to 240 for 7 in rain-curtailed 3rd ODI

In what appears to be his swan-song appearance for the West Indies, Chris Gayle smashed his way to a 72-run knock, leading the hosts to a competitive 240 for seven against India in the rain-curtailed third and final ODI here on Wednesday.

The weather continued to play havoc in this tour of India as the rain forced two interruptions after the hosts elected to bat in the match, which they need to win to level the series.

West Indies reached a healthy 158 for two in 22 overs when rain forced a second interruption and at resumption the contest was reduced to 35-overs-a-side.

Shai Hope (24) and Shimron Hetmyer (25) resumed the innings but they did not last long with Mohammed Shami dismissing the latter and Ravindra Jadeja cleaning up the former.

Nicholas Pooran played a whirlwind 16-ball 30-run knock to take the hosts past 200-run mark. The left-hander smartly handled the Indian spinners, launching Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal for massive sixes.

Shami struck again by sending back Pooran, ...