Indian captain Rohit Sharma greets teammates Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer, after India won the first T20 cricket match against West Indies, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)India vs West Indies 1st T20I: India beat West Indies by six wickets in first T20 International to take 1-0 lead in three-match series. Rohit Sharma’s 40 and Suryakumar Yadav’s timely 34 not out, takes India home in an eventually comfortable chase against WI.
Earlier, Nicholas Pooran, who had fetched a staggering 10.75 crore deal in the IPL mega auction, returned to form with a 43-ball 61 to anchor the innings, while another IPL recruit opener Kyle Mayers (31 off 24 balls) gave the team early impetus and skipper Kieron Pollard (24 off 19) provided the late charge. Ravi Bishnoi had a dream debut taking two for 17 in his four overs. Harshal Patel (2/37) also snapped two wickets, while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (1/34) and pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/31) and Deepak Chahar (1/28) took one apiece.
West Indies (Playing XI): Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard(c), Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Odean Smith, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell
India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal
India
162/4 (18.5)West Indies
157/7 (20.0)India beat West Indies by 6 wickets
Eden Gardens will host the T20I. (File)
Finishes it off with a six. Venkatesh Iyer slams one over mid-wicket. India wins with an over to spare. India beat West Indies by 6 wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Smacked through covers for a much needed boundary by Surya. And follows that up with a maximum. A firm cover drive for four, and hooked to fine leg for six. "Suryakumar Yadav’s talent is going to waste at number 5-6-7. He should be sent at no.3," says Shivam on social media. IND: 139/4 after 17 overs
That's a soft one. India lose their fourth wicket. Pant is gone now. Sheldon Cottrell's got a wicket and a key one at that. Spoons it off the splice and offers the simplest of catches to Smith at short fine. IND 115/4 after 14.3 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav is now taking it to the West Indies bowlers. After Kohli departed, he came and hit two back to back fours and now plays anoutrageous shot to get a four off Smith's over. 9 off this over. IND 112/3 after 14 overs.
OUT! Fabian Allen dismisses Virat Kohli. Kohli tried to go for the big hit but only manages to find Pollard at long-off. Allen is delighted and Kohli walks back for 17 off 13. India in trouble all of a sudden, they have Pant and Surya at the crease now. That’s what a build of dot balls from the other end can do. West Indies fighting back and India in trouble. IND: 95/3 after 12.3 overs
Ishan Kishan out caught at deep mid-wicket. Roston Chase gets the breakthrough. Ishan Kishan is out for 35 off 42 balls, caught by Fabian Allen. An agonizing stay at the crease comes to an end! IND: 93/2 after 12 overs, need 65 runs in 48 balls
Confusion between Kohli and Kishan but a wrong throw towards the bowlers end doesn't lead to any damage. both batters were stranded in the middle after deciding to pinch a quick single and then had to rush back to their respective ends on seeing the fielder charge. The throw came in at the wrong (bowling) end. IND: 80/1 after 10 overs
Rohit Sharma holes out in the deep. The ball stayed in the air for a whole before Odean smith catches it very close to the boundary. Rohit almost got it over the rope. Got the height but not the distance, and Smith takes a sharp catch on the boundary. He is gone for 40 off 19 balls. IND: 65/1 after 8 overs
India Powerplay scores in recent games:
53/0 vs Afg
82/2 vs Sco
54/0 vs Nam
56/1 vs NZ
45/0 vs NZ
69/0 vs NZ
58/0 vs WI
Another one but this time it was a good bouncer from Odean smith that gets a top edge from Rohit Sharma and guess what it clear the fence over keeper head. Rohit Sharma now holds the record of scoring most runs against West Indies in T20Is, going past Babar Azam’s 540 runs. IND: 44/0 after 4 overs
"Was he playing piano with the bat in hand" What a description for a glorious shot by commentator Harsha Bhogle. A beautiful flick shot by Rohit Sharma for six runs
Rohit and Ishan Kishan are at the crease. Rohit is on strike. Cottrell will open the attack and just three off the first over.
Brilliant catch by Rohit to end things. West Indies set a target of 158 runs. They have done rather well to steal 61 off the last five overs, but still, in the larger scheme of things with the dew settling in, 157 looks like a below-par total. Innings Break
Harshal Patel gets Nicholas Pooran with a slower ball. Pooran is dismissed for 61 where he hit 4 fours 5 sixes. WI: 135/6 in 18 overs. Catch No 43 for Virat Kohli moves ahead of Raina Most catches by Indian non-keeper in T20I 45 : RG Sharma (120) 43 : V Kohli (95) 42 : SK Raina (78)
Harshal Patel is back in an attack but no stopping Pooran as he hits him for a six of the second ball of 18th over. 'Pooran is a gifted player. His calmness makes his batting look even more fab,' says Avish on Twitter.
Pooran is holding up the West Indies innings and hits a huge six off Chahal. And gets his 50. That a 10.75 crore player you are watching bat. And that's a 4 from Pollard. Misfield by Iyer. Looks like he also hurt his thumb. 17 overs gone. WI 125/5.
It's another review by India. For Pollard's wicket. Bishnoi looks pretty convinced. The impact is fine, but the ball is spinning in a little too much to end up as an umpire's call on clipping leg-stump. It's not out. Oh my. Overthrow now. That's 4 extra runs. And Pooran hits a four off the next ball. Nothing much Bishnoi could do about that one. 12 off the over. WI 108/5 after 16 overs.
Akeal Hosein hits a big one off Chahar. Beautiful shot and it just flies straight down the ground. Backs away, swings flat-batted and absolutely smokes it. And he's gone. A sharp ball. Swings at it and mis-hits. WI go 5 down. Chahar with the wicket. WI 94/5 after 14 overs.
And that's wicket number 2 for Bishnoi. What a debut he is having. Powell tries to hit a big one and it's straight down Iyer's throat. WI 4 down. WI 74/4 after 10.5 overs.
And that's an LBW. Roston Chase falls. Oh wait. Chase is reviewing it. Looks out but still. Yes. That's being given. Chase walks as Bishnoi celebrates his maiden international wicket.
And that's a 4 from Pooran. Straight to backward square leg. He is shifting to another gear now. Excellent display of the pull shot. Harshal Patel does not look happy at all. WI 71/2 after 10 overs.
There's a review for LBW now. Chahal looks very convinced but Rohit seems to think otherwise but he reviews anyway. And yeah, that's not out. India lose the review. And Pooran ends the over with a 6. Just rubbing salt to those wounds. WI 63/2 after 9 overs.
Is that an out? Umpire has given it a wide with loud exclamations of 'How is that a wide?' from Indian players. It is being reviewed for stumping. Ultraedge coming up. Foot is grounded. It's not out. The wide call is changed as the ball had hit the pad before going behind. A lot of things happened but the end result is the wide getting cancelled.
Mayers is given out LBW, but he's reviewed it. UltraEdge shows a flat line, so no bat. Where was the impact? Umpire's call and that means Mayers has to go back. He is gone for 31 off 24 balls. Chahal has a wicket. WI: 51/2 after 6.4 overs
Ravi Bishnoi catches a skier but he steps back on to the rope; Nicholas Pooran will bat on. Soft signal was out.. WI have recovered well so far after the early departure of King
Kyle Mayers came across the off stump & Harshal drops it short but he again played it over fine leg for the second boundary in the over. End of Mandatory PP! It’s all Kyle Mayers & his boundaries after that first wicket in the first over. He makes sure to put Indian quicks under pressure. They end the powerplay with. WI: 44/1 after 6 overs
First Pooran with a massive hit and then Kyle Mayers is showing us why he's secured an IPL deal. Incredible hitting from the West Indians, brute force.
It is boundary or nothing for Mayers so far. This was fraction short and he picks the length early, pulls it in front of square and over the infield. No one in the deep to stop that. WI: 18/1 after 3 overs
A crisp cover drive to begin the first over and then a wicket on the fifth ball as Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled his length back and that resulted in the breakthrough. Suryakumar Yadav take a good catch. WI: 4/1 after 1 over.
We are done with the national anthems of both teams. West Indies openers Brandon King and Kyle Mayers have walked out to open, Bhuvneshwar Kumar to open the attack for India. Time for action.
Ravi Bishnoi's dream comes true. Hopefully, he will make it a debut to remember.
"Looks like we are going to bowl first here. I don't want to comment on the pitch as it has played differently every time we have come here. (Bowling first) gives a score in mind and how to approach the second half. We have to prepare ourselves with one eye on Australia. We have to keep ticking the boxes and that's been the message to the guys. We have played really well as a team but those little moments in the game is what we have to try and seize. Gives us a perfect opportunity to play a quality side like West Indies. They are going to challenge us, so let's see what we can come up with. We are playing with five batters, one all rounder and two spinners, Ravi Bishnoi is making his debut. We have got three seamers and few of those guys can bat as well. Yes (Ishan is opening).
Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard(c), Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Odean Smith, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell
Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rohit Sharma wins the toss and India are bowling first at the Eden Gardens.
The pitch at Eden Gardens has always supported the pace bowlers with the light breeze from Hooghly coming in the evening. On most occasions, it has been low and slow as well but over the years has improved to become a decent T220I wicket and hence runs are expected large in number.
There is no forecast of rain for the first t20i between India and the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. However, there will be a lot of dew no doubt and the amount will keep on increasing as time passes. The humidity will increase from 53% at 7 pm to 60% at 10 pm.
India opener KL Rahul and teammate Virat Kohli continued to occupy the fourth and 10th spot respectively in the latest ICC men’s T20 batting rankings released on Wednesday. No Indian featured in the top 10 of the bowlers and all-rounders’ list. (More)
Virat Kohli in T20I cricket in 2021: 0, 73*, 77*, 1, 80*, 57, 9, 2* | He has been consistent for Team India in the shortest format of the game with 299 runs in 8 innings, which also includes four half-centuries.
The Indian bowlers are on the mark.
Can Rohit Sharma and Co. clean sweep the Windies in the shortest format too?
Ishan Kishan is likely to get the nod but KL Rahul’s absence has given India an opportunity to revisit the Rohit-Kohli combination in the three-match series. First up would be the opening combination and who would be ideal to partner the skipper in the shortest format with his regular KL Rahul out with a left hamstring strain. More: IND vs WI 1st T20 Predicted Playing XI.
India will look to make amends and rebuild the side with a packed T20 calendar lined up ahead of the marquee event in Australia beginning October 16. Rohit Sharma, under whom Mumbai Indians have won five IPL titles, would be looking to sort out issues such as the opening blues, the middle-lower order conundrum, and also the bowling strategies. Stay tuned as we build up towards the live match.