India rode on a quickfire 40 from their captain Rohit Sharma and a stunning finishing effort from Suryakumar Yadav to successfully gun down a 158-run target and win the 1st T20I of a 3-match series against the West Indies by 6 wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
After Ravi Bishnoi’s heroics helped India restrict West Indies for 157, Rohit, Suryakumar and Venkatesh Iyer played handy knocks as India gunned down the target in just 18.5 overs with 6 wickets to spare. The 5th wicket partnership between Surya and Iyer accounted for 48 runs from just 26 balls as both the batters remained unbeaten to take India past the finish line.
India vs West Indies, 1st T20I: Highlights
Venkatesh Iyer, who will play for Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in the near future, finished it off with a big six in the penultimate delivery of the 19th over.
With the victory, India extended their winning streak in T20Is to 7 matches — streak that started at the T20 World Cup. Also, Rohit has won his first 4 matches as the full-time captain of India as the Asian giants won their last 9 of 10 T20Is against the West Indies.
.@surya_14kumar and Venkatesh Iyer take #TeamIndia home with a 6-wicket win in the 1st T20I.
Scorecard – https://t.co/dSGcIkX1sx #INDvWI @Paytm pic.twitter.com/jfrJo0fsR3
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2022
Despite a strong start from India with Rohit hitting 40 from 19 balls, India were in a spot of bother in the middle overs as they lost Virat Kohli (17), Ishan Kishan (35) and Rishabh Pant (8) in quick succession. Roston Chase, who failed with the bat, shone with the ball, finishing with figures of 2/14 in 4 overs to dent India’s chase.
Ishan Kishan, who bagged a hefty contract of Rs 15.25 crore at the Indian Premier League mega auction on Saturday, struggled for timing as he fell for 35 from 42 balls. However, Suryakumar proved his worth as a finisher, taking the attack to the West Indies bowlers from the word go despite not taking a lot of risks.
Earlier in the day, debutant Ravi Bishnoi shone on his T20I debut, picking up 2 wickets as he led an all-round bowling attack to restrict West Indies to 157/7 in 20 overs after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field. Bishnoi’s day began with him getting his maiden India cap from fellow wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. It was an emotional moment for the 21-year-old who had done the hard yards over the last 2 years after catching the attention of world cricket at the U19 World Cup in 2020.
However, it didn’t go Bishnoi’s way straight away as he touched the boundary rope before finishing a catch to dismiss Nicholas Pooran as early as the first over of Chahal. Pooran, who got an extra life at 8, went on to make a quickfire 61 that helped West Indies push their total past 150.
BISHNOI SHINES ON DEBUT WITH THE BALL
However, Bishnoi put the disappointment of the dropped catch behind to pick up 2 wickets in his 2nd over in international cricket. He got the wicket of Roston Chase, putting an end to the all-rounder’s struggle in the middle overs while he also sent back the dangerous Rovman Powell for 2 in the same over.
Bishnoi bowled more than 70 per cent of googlies as Inda went in with two leg-spinners, knowing the youngster’s ability to consistently bowl the wrong’uns.
Chahal did a fine job as well as he got the wicket of well-set opener Kyle Mayers for 31. Harshal Patel, who got a big paycheck at the IPL 2022 mega auction from Royal Challengers Bangalore, flaunted his death-bowling skills, picking up the wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Odean Smith.
Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the wicket of Brandon King with the new ball and the veteran pacer came back well after an expensive over in the middle. Deepak Chahar shone as well, picking up the wicket of Akeal Hosein before he was hit on the hand by Kieron Pollard.
India will be looking to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead when they take on the West Indies in the 2nd T20I at the same venue on Friday, February 18.
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