Kieron Pollard struck 10 sixes in a monstrous innings of 119, but still fell short in his one-man effort as India beat West Indies by 34 runs in the fifth and final one-day international in Chennai on Sunday.

The Trinidadian's remarkable display of clean hitting threatened to clinch the match single-handedly from an unlikely position after he had arrived at the crease with the tourists on 36 for four in pursuit of 268 for victory.

Ultimately that top-order collapse left him with too much to do, as the wickets continued to fall and saw Pollard hole out on the long-off boundary, the last man out in a total of 233 in 44.1 overs.

Pollard cleared the boundary almost at will, but just as impressive as his power was his ability to pick the correct ball to hit.

After Denesh Ramdin had also perished to leave West Indies 78 for five in the 16th over, Pollard put on an 89-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Andre Russell at better than a run a ball to put them on course for victory.

Russell hit three sixes and five fours in a 42-ball knock worth 53 that turned the match on its head, but his dismissal proved the biggest turning point when he was run out by a direct hit from India's stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir.

Pollard found support hard to come by thereafter, with the last four batsmen unable to rotate the strike and take some of the pressure off the hefty hitter.

He eventually reached his century with just one wicket remaining, but had Virat Kohli to thank as the fielder dropped a simple catch at long-on. With the ball rolling over the boundary, Pollard had his first international century in any format, in his 51st ODI.

Although he was able to pummel two more sixes, and shield last man Anthony Martin from the strike, his resistance was finally ended when Ajinkya Rahane took a sharp catch on the long-off boundary to leave Pollard distraught.

By that stage it was easy to forget that Manoj Tiwary, a man who had never passed fifty, had scored his maiden one-day ton earlier in the day as India posted 267 for six after opting to bat first.

While it paled in comparison to their mammoth 418 for five in the fourth match, it was a significant score on a slow Chennai pitch.

The West Indies were guilty of letting the game slip after a terrific start that saw Kemar Roach reduce India to one for two, as Tiwary batted sensibly and guided the hosts to a highly competitive total.

The hosts rested Virender Sehwag, handing the captaincy to Gambhir. Ravichandran Ashwin fell out of the XI and Rahane and Irfan Pathan, returning to international cricket after a two-year hiatus, were drafted in.

The islanders made the perfect start when Roach removed both Rahane and Parthiv Patel for first-ball ducks in the first over of the match, but an 83-run partnership between Gambhir (31) and Tiwary put India back on track.

Tiwary then set about taking the game away from the West Indies as he ploughed through his second fifty in a 117-run partnership with Virat Kohli.

Although Tiwary was forced to limp off one single later as he gave in to the cramps which had dogged him in the latter part of his innings, Kohli went to 80 from 85 balls before finally picking out long-on.

The final overs were not as profitable as India would have liked - they scored just 53 runs in the last 10 as wickets went down - but ultimately it proved enough despite Pollard's heroics.