5 Talking Points from 1st T20I between India and West Indies in the USA

A heartstopping finale

Dwayne Bravo was India’s vanquisher in crucial moments – he took Kohli’s wicket and followed it up by Dhoni’s wicket with the last ball of the match

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This match was fitting for the stage accorded to it. It was the highest scoring T20I match ever, the combined score of 489 runs beating the existing record by 22 runs. There was intense drama involved as well, till the very last ball.

On the first ball of the last over being bowled by Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels dropped a sitter after Dhoni’s bat had produced an edge. With 7 runs required off the last 5 balls and the set partnership of Rahul and Dhoni, an India victory seemed assured. However, Bravo successfully cut off all boundaries, taking it to the very last ball.

The drama only intensified on the last ball, Bravo taking a full three minutes between the final two balls. As Dhoni fidgeted on the crease with 2 to win off 1 ball, Bravo and Kieron Pollard came together for a whispering session, as new captain Carlos Brathwaite stood around.

As Bravo revealed in the post match presentation ceremony, he had planned not to bowl a slower ball because he assumed Dhoni from their shared past together that he would play safe and try to target mid wicket and take the match to a Super Over. Then at the very last moment, he had seen Dhoni shuffle around and had gone for the slower ball after all. Dhoni edged it again, and Marlon Samuels captured it this time.

West Indies had beaten India by 1 run in a historic match.