Kieron Pollard's stunning maiden century went in vain as India beat West Indies by 34 runs to win the fifth and final One-day to record an emphatic 4-1 series triumph in Chennai.
Electing to bat on a track where the ball was keeping low, India reached respectable 267 for six -- courtesy Manoj Tiwary's (104) first ODI century and a fine 80 by Virat Kohli.
It was Pollard whose magnificent power hitting helped West Indies reach as close as 233 in 44.1 overs. Pollard hit as many as 10 sixes and four fours in his smashing knock of 119 off 110 deliveries. He was last man out in his bid to clear the long-off boundary where Ajinkya Rahane took a smart catch off Suresh Raina's bowling.
While chasing, West Indies were pegged back by comeback man Irfan Pathan and Abhimanyu Mithun who blew away the top four with only 36 on board.
After Ravindra Jadeja removed Denesh Ramdin with scoreboard reading 78 for five, T20 specialist Pollard and all-rounder Andre Russell (53) launched a furious counter-attack adding 89 runs in only 79 deliveries.
Once Russell was run-out by a direct throw from stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir, Pollard who was hitting sixes at will ran out of partners.
It was match where both Pollard and Tiwary had a point to prove to their detractors that they belong to the top flight.
The immensely talented Tiwary finally displayed his true potential as he scored his maiden century on a difficult track to help India reach a competitive 267 for five
The Bengal boy who has been in the fringes for quite some time and has never really done justice to his talent in the previous five ODI appearances, grabbed the opportunity with both hands before he had to retire due to cramps.
Coming out to bat in the first over of the match with India reeling at one for two, Tiwary conjured two important partnerships -- first 83 runs with stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir (31) for the third wicket and then 117 runs for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli (80).
With Virender Sehwag opting to rest, Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat. Ajinkya Rahane (0) and Parthiv Patel (0) were back in the hut off successive deliveries by Kemar Roach.
While Rahane was trapped leg-before-wicket, Patel dragged one back onto his stumps to deliveries that kept low.
Tiwary started off with confident drive through the mid-off region off Andre Russell's bowling.
With the pitch keeping on the slower side and the odd-ball shooting up, both Tiwary and Gambhir didn't take any undue risk and concentrated on taking singles hitting the odd boundary in between. Yet, the team's 50 came fairly quickly in the 11th over.
Gambhir-Tiwary duo added 83 runs for the third wicket before leg-spinner Anthony Martin got one to pitch on the leg-middle line and straighten to find Gambhir plumb in-front of the stumps.
The in-form Kohli got into the groove immediately as Manoj completed a much needed half century of 75 deliveries.
The Bengal skipper used his feet well against both offie Sunil Narine and Martins.
The Tiwary-Kohli duo played freely and also ran well between the wickets. As Manoj entered the 80's he started cramping up but manfully carried on.
Tiwary's best shot came when he effortlessly lifted Narine over long-off for a six. As he ran a few singles to reach 99, he was seen in extreme discomfort.
A deft glance off Narine brought up the magic figure as a completely drained looking Tiwary acknowledged the standing ovation given by his teammates. But soon after the completion of his landmark, he walked off the field.
Kohli, who had by then reached his 18th ODI fifty continued in company of Rohit Sharma (21). Just when it looked that Kohli would get his second ODI century, he was holed out in the deep trying to go for a big hit.
Rohit was dismissed when he tried playing for the turn off Narine to get bowled. Suresh Raina (16) hit a few blows while comeback man Irfan Pathan (4) played out a maiden over which robbed India a chance of scoring another 10-15 runs.
