Shreyas Iyer believes India's "phenomenal" start with the bat was crucial after they retook the lead in their five-match T20I series with West Indies on Sunday. 

India won the third encounter between the two sides by 14 runs at Holkar Cricket Stadium, having posted a total of 223 for the tourists to chase in their innings. 

After losing Sanju Samson (3) early on, Abhishek Sharma (69) and Ishan Kishan (37) led India to 115-1 in the ninth over before the latter was stumped by Shai Hope. 

Tilak Varma top-scored from the remainder of India's order with 28, but Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Axar Patel (20) chipped in with their respective scores later in the proceedings. 

Hope managed just five before he was sent packing by Arshdeep Singh (3-44), though Kamil Pooran (42) and Shimron Hetmyer (43) were able to steady the West Indies ship. 

Despite good knocks from Sherfane Rutherford (32) and Shamar Springer (35), West Indies just came up short, finishing 209-7 to hand India a 2-1 lead in the series. 

"It [the ball staying dry] was wonderful because the bowlers were pretty confident about what they wanted to execute," Iyer said. "The clarity was much more visible.

"They were decisive in their execution, and when I was passing the ball to them, each and every bowler was up for the challenge, and that's what you want.

"Honestly, that was a phenomenal start. Abhishek doing what he does in the powerplay and Kishan coming in. He's been great in the last few months.

"Even Prince playing the cameo in the end, those were crucial runs. West Indies, you can never take them lightly. So we had to make sure we never get complacent.

"Both of them are high-scoring grounds, but it's important we stick to our process and follow our routines and make sure we stay offensive."

Back in the lead in the #INDvWI T20I series #TeamIndia clinch the 𝗪 in Indore to go up Scorecard https://t.co/0ve4uDWSIn @mflone_ https://t.co/35WSM1eUtk

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 11, 2026

West Indies know they must win the fourth match on Wednesday to avoid defeat in the series, with Hope saying Sunday's clash was decided by the small margins. 

"So many things you can put your finger on. But cricket games have small margins. As a winning team, you can pick out defining moments," Hope conceded.

"Probably with the ball, we could have executed better, and we let a few boundaries through. I believe that the way we came back into the game was quite commendable.

"From the outset, if you look at that partnership, it was a very dangerous one, but we got some wickets with Roston, and we pulled it back."

Pakistan, meanwhile, took an unassailable 2-0 lead in their series against Sri Lanka as Maaz Sadaqat scored 96 during a dominant 82-run victory at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. 

Having won the opening match by four wickets, Pakistan were put in to bat by Sri Lanka, with Sahibzada Farhan (73) also impressing as they reached 215-3. 

Sri Lanka fell way short of reaching that target as they finished 133-7, with Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Salman Ali Mirza doing the damage with five wickets between them.