India vs Windies – 1st T20I Hits and Misses

India’s domination over Windies in this series continued as the Men in Blue defeated the Windies by 5 wickets. Rohit Sharma, the stand-in captain, won the toss and opted to bowl. Krunal Pandya who has been impressive in the domestic circuit debuted along with the left arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed. Shai Hope and Denesh Ramdin started the proceedings for Windies who had 3 debutants in their side.

The Indian bowlers were on a roll as none of their batsmen got going. Kuldeep Yadav was highly impressive as he picked 3 wickets. The debutants Krunal and Khaleel made a mark as they picked 2 wickets in their 8 overs while conceding 31 runs combined. Among Windies, only Fabian Allen crossed the 20-run mark, scoring 27 runs.

While Hope showed some glimpse of a good start he failed to capitalize over that. Some late blows from Fabian Allen, Keemo Paul and Khary Pierre helped the Windies cross the 100-run mark. They finished with just 109 runs in their quota losing 8 wickets. In reply, the start of India was shocking as Oshane Thomas removed both the openers for the scores of 6 and 3, respectively. Rahul who scored some boundaries to ease the pressure fell after scoring 16 runs while Rishabh Pant was dismissed for just 1 run, thus leaving India at 45/4.

Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey with their ample experience rescued the team from a downfall. Krunal Pandya, who was having a dream debut, completed the chase with a blistering 21 runs off 9 balls. Kuldeep Yadav was adjudged the Man of the Match for his excellent figures with the ball.

Let us have a look at some of the hits and misses from the game.

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Hits:

#1 Kuldeep Yadav

The chinaman bowler who has been having a dream run in the recent past had an outing to remember. In the absence of his partner YuzvendraChahal, Kuldeep was under pressure to deliver. The pressure didn’t stop Kuldeep as he scalped 3 important wickets of Windies.

Darren Bravo and Rovman Powell had a hard time at the middle as they couldn’t read Kuldeep, eventually wasting the deliveries. Both of them returned to the pavilion in the successive overs of the Chinaman. The case of the captain was no different. Carlos Brathwaite was trapped leg-before of Kuldeep in his struggling innings, just adding 4 runs to the Windies score after wasting 11 deliveries.

Kuldeep was miser with ball too. The 4 overs of Kuldeep just conceded 13 runs.

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#2 Oshane Thomas

The 21-year-old bowler, who debuted today, opened the attack for the Windies. With just 109 on the board, not many would have placed their bets on this debutant to deliver. He surprised everyone with his amazing speed which Caribbean players are highly known for. His constant 140+kph raised many eyebrows as it never allowed the Indians to accelerate their innings.

Oshane Thomas removed the stand-in captain Rohit Sharma in his first over after a confident appeal for caught behind. His outing got even better when he knocked the stumps of Dhawan that extended Dhawan’s search for form. The 4 overs of Oshane Thomas saw 13 dot balls in total, which is highly astonishing from a debutant. His figures after 4 overs read 4-0-21-2.

If not for the six in his penultimate ball, figures of Oshane Thomas would have been even more amazing. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic performance that slightly opened the doors for Windies in defending this small total.

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#3 Dinesh Karthik

When the T20 team was announced, it created ripples across the cricketing circle as Dhoni wasn’t mentioned in the team. After losing his ODI spot, Dinesh Karthik’s place in the team was questioned and many didn’t believe him to come good. Karthik shut everyone’s mouth with a responsible innings under pressure.

India kept losing wickets in their initial overs and were reeling at 45/4. Karthik who has enough experience in similar situations from playing the IPL rescued the team with Manish Pandey. Karthik scored 31 runs off 34 balls. The boundaries at regular intervals kept the team moving ahead.

Karthik’s innings saw 3 boundaries and a six. With 38 and 27 run partnerships with Manish Pandey and Krunal Pandya, respectively, Karthik guided the team across the finishing line thus proving his vitality in the squad.

Misses:

#1 Kieron Pollard

The Veteran all-rounder, who returning to the team, was expected to deliver for the relatively inexperienced Windies team. Kieron Pollard, who was playing his first T20I match in India, came to the crease at a critical situation and was forced to play a mature innings to stabilise the team. The scorecard read 22/2 after 3 overs and a partnership could have saved the Windies team.

Pollard was rusty with the bat as he scored a struggling 14 off 26 balls. Neither the pitch nor the bowlers supported Pollard. His long stay at the crease only favoured India. A rare achievement in this slow innings was that his six in his slow 26-ball innings was the only six of the whole Windies innings. Krunal Pandya, the Mumbai Indians team mate of Pollard who debuted today, ended the misery of Pollard when he dismissed the veteran in the 10th over. To add to his woes, Pollard conceded 12 runs in the only over he bowled.

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#2 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan, who gave up his Test spot to the sensational Prithvi Shaw after a forgettable England series had an average series in the limited overs format too. He scored just 112 runs in 5 outings with a high score of just 38. Chasing a paltry 110, Dhawan was expected to regain his lost form and the confidence. Sadly, it wasn’t the case with Shikhar Dhawan as he missed out a good chance to stabilise his T20 career.

Rohit Sharma fell in the first over and the responsibility was on Dhawan to guide the innings. He got out for just 3 runs after facing 8 deliveries and his wicket saw him push the team in to a dangerous situation of 16/2. His 8-ball stay saw him struggle against the impressive Oshane Thomas who hardly bowled any ball below 140kph. Fittingly, Oshane Thomas removed Dhawan with an excellent delivery that knocked the stumps off.

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#3 Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant, the sensational youngster who made a mark in the Test side with a brilliant century in England was named in the ODI side too, but unfortunately he didn’t get to play. He played in this match and critics and fans eagerly expected Pant to repay their faith with a good innings. In reply to the Windies' 109, the Indian innings was in despair as the Men in Blue were struggling at 16/2.

Pant who can hit boundaries at will and who has enough experiences in Indian soil was expected to play atleast a supporting knock to Rahul. Sadly, it didn’t happen as he was dismissed for just 1 run. In his 19-run partnership with Rahul, Pant contributed a mere 1 run in 4 balls. Pant was dismissed by the opponent captain Carlos Brathwaite with a good catch by Darren Bravo. Although inexperience could be named as a reason for the failure, his place will be at stake when he takes the field in the next match.