India vs West Indies 1st T20: Rohit Sharma’s full-fledged half-century and Dinesh Karthik’s majestic finish aided by the all-powerful bowling made India win over West Indies by 68-runs in the first T20I on Friday. Now India took a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series after the successful win of the ODI series. Chasing a target of 191 runs, West Indies were restricted to 122 runs for 8 in 20 overs. West Indies fall into yet another white-ball loss and they need to pull up their socks.
Earlier in the game, Nicholas Pooran won the toss and decided to bowl but the decision was proven to be wrong. Invited to bat, India scored 190 for 6 with captain Rohit Sharma scoring 64 runs off 44 balls. While Sharma set up the platform, Dinesh Karthik intended to score an unbeaten 41 off 19 balls in the final overs that took India to a high score on the tough pitch.
India yielded 45 runs in the last three overs and that became the turning point of the game. Karthik took advantage of the sloppy bowling and he became the player-of-the-match. Alzarri Joseph had the best figures of 2 for 46 for Windies. Akeal Hosein was the most economical bowler, giving away only 14 runs in 4 overs with a wicket.
India lost its first wicket, Suryakumar Yadav, in 4.4 overs as he scored 24 runs in 16 balls. Unlike the last ODI series, Shreyas Iyer failed to score a single run in the match. Wicket Keeper Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Hardik Pandya went early without making any impact on the scoreboard. It was only because of Karthik’s brisk innings that lead India to a strong total.
West Indies knew that chasing 191 runs on that pitch would be a bit difficult for them with the very disappointing batting they displayed. They want to attack from the beginning itself, but Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks’ efforts went in vain. Mayers’ aggressiveness gave away his wicket. After the first wicket, no one really tried to take a lead. Jason Holder went out in a golden duck. Others went to the ground and came back to the pavilion fast. Not a single player crossed 20 runs from their side.
While chasing a big score, one needs a good partnership and that was absent in the last game.
Indian spinners Ravichandran Aswin (2/22 in 4 overs), Ravindra Jadeja (1/26 in 4 overs), and Ravi Bishnoi (2/26 in 4 overs) got wickets at regular intervals. Arshdeep Singh’s (2/24 in 4 overs) and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s (1/11 in 2 overs) powerful wickets also gave a breakthrough to the game. Everyone apart from Hardik Pandya gets into the wicket column.
Team India is elated with the best start they have got in the T20I series. They were clinical with both bat and ball. Once Arshdeep Singh got rid of Mayers, India had got the perfect opening.
Rohit and the team knew the nature of the pitch earlier and they realized that it will not go easily. The pitch was not something the team can get 170/180 but eventually, India reached there with an incredible team effort. Sharma says he has given certain roles to certain players and it did work out very well for the match. They will continue to do that in the next match also. Because everything relies on the pitch.
India has taken a 1-0 lead with a win, but four matches are left in the series. West Indies will now look to bounce back in the second game. The second T20I will be played on Monday, 1st August at Warner Park in St Kitts.
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