San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago: West Indies leads in T20 by winning the first game of five-match T20 series played at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in San Fernando.
Batting first after winning the toss, West Indies scored 149 runs in T20 overs by losing six wickets, not a big target for such a dominating two-time World Champions India, but Windies bowlers did well against them, dismissing the openers early without letting them build momentum.
Ishan Kishan, the dominating Indian youngster in form, attempted to score a big hit but didn’t appropriately connect, providing an easy catch in mid. Rowman Powell, the Jamaican-born, made no mistake and seized the opportunity beautifully.
He was dismissed in the 5th over, scoring six runs in 9 balls. His teammate, Shubman Gill, who performed astonishingly in Indian Premier League (IPL) so, called the rising star of Indian Cricketer, didn’t perform well against Windies in all three formats as he gets dismissed early.
Akeal Hussein, the Barbadian-born all-rounder, remains the most successful bowler from Windies’ side. He took two crucial wickets from Surya Kumar Yadav and Shubman Gill and only gave 19 runs in his four-over spell with one maiden over.
India was cruising in the run chase before Holder and Shepherd put the brakes in the death overs to seal a 4-run win for the hosts.
Romario Shephard and Obed McCoy also took two wickets each, preventing India from reaching the target score and sealing victory in first T20 match.
From the Indian side, Tilak Varma made a superb start to his innings with a flurry of boundaries and led India’s recovery in the company of Suryakumar Yadav. Both, though, fell in quick succession.
During the Interview, Hardik Pandya, The new Indian Captain chosen for India’s tour of West Indies in the T20 format, emphasizes that a team consisting primarily of young players can make mistakes, and it’s normal. He added that they would improve and grow together. “Good four games coming ahead”.
