IND vs WI: 1st T20I Review – Bishnoi and Surya star in India’s opening win
India took a lead of 1-0 in the three-match T20I series with a six-wicket win in the first game at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The leg-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi did most of the damage and strangled the West Indies batters with regular wickets.
Nicholas Pooran battled hard to find West Indies out of the struggle with a well-made 43 ball 61 but lacked the much-needed support from the other end. Harshal Patel’s death overs spell was quite good and Pollard could not free his arms towards the end to restrict the score to 157 in 20 overs.
Rohit Sharma gave a blistering start to the chase with a 19-ball 40 that set up the chase and Ishan Kishan’s slow start was compromised as a result. However, India slightly stuttered towards the middle overs with the scoring rate going down and it was down to the middle order duo of Venkatesh Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav.
Both the batters were much quicker to start and their partnership of 48 in just 26 balls took the side comfortably with seven balls to spare. West Indies still have a lot of work to be done going forward as they have been trying out things ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Top performers of the match
Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi starred for India on his ODI debut by picking up two wickets in his four-over spell and his air speed was so good that restricted the West Indian batters from coming down the track. The leg spinner will be a useful addition to the future of the side as well. He conceded just 17 runs in his spell despite Pooran going after the bowling.
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav ensured that India got over the line with a solid knock of 34 and he found the gaps in the most unconventional methods that helped India immensely. He will be a key player for India in the middle order moving forward. He hit five fours and one six in his 18-ball innings.
What next for the two teams?
With the series on line, West Indies is expected to come out hard in the second T20I against India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 18th February as they haven’t yet registered a win on this Indian tour so far.
