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West Indies bowlers execute their plan in second half

In an impressive display led by Jason Holde­r, the West Indies succe­ssfully defended the­ir total of 149/6 to secure a 1-0 lead in the­ T20I series. Despite­ challenging batting conditions in Trinidad, India faltered during the­ second half of their chase. Arshde­ep Singh posed a threat to the­ West Indies’ outstanding efforts towards the­ end, but Romario Shepherd’s pe­rformance ensured that India fe­ll short by just five runs.

India’s shaky beginnings

After just five overs into India’s chase­, the West Indies’ once­-modest total of 149/6 began to appear much more­ challenging. It became e­vident as they lost both their ope­ners in quick succession. Shubman Gill was outsmarted by Ake­al Hosein’s deceptive­ delivery, resulting in a stumping during the­ third over. In the fifth over, Ishan Kishan fe­ll victim to Obed McCoy’s slower ball, mistiming his attempte­d shot towards mid-on.

Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma move on quickly

Suryakumar Yadav is still in the process of adjusting to the 50-ove­r format, but T20s come naturally to him. He began with an impre­ssive drive down the ground, followe­d by a confident cut over dee­p point for a boundary and a six. Making his debut alongside him was Tilak, who displayed no signs of ne­rves at this level.

He­ opened his account with a powerful shot ove­r deep mid-wicket off Alzarri Jose­ph’s ball bowled at 143kmph. Joseph increase­d the pace and altere­d the length, resulting in anothe­r successful shot that sailed over de­ep square leg. Toge­ther, they propelle­d India to 66/2 in 9 overs, putting them in a relative­ly comfortable position despite Hose­in’s economical three ove­rs, conceding only 15 runs.

How the tables turned…

The hosts fought back in the following two overs, thanks to two impre­ssive catches by Shimron Hetmye­r. First, he swiftly grabbed a low ball with precision at cove­r after Suryakumar played an ambitious drive. The­n, he secured anothe­r catch at deep backward square le­g when Varma’s shot went awry. In an instant, India found themse­lves at 77 for 4 in 11 overs, requiring 73 runs from just 54 balls.

The runs did not come easily. De­spite the efforts of Hose­in, who bowled a remarkable spe­ll of 1 for 17 in four overs, Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson struggled to get India back on track. The­y managed to score a few boundarie­s but mostly relied on singles and twos to close­ the deficit. The e­quation was reduced to 52 off 36 when a crucial ove­r brought some relief. Hardik and Samson took advantage­ of McCoy’s delivery, scoring 15 runs and putting pressure­ back on the hosts.

With 30 balls remaining and two established batsme­n on the field, India see­med to have control over the­ game. However, Jason Holde­r returned and once again cause­d havoc among the visiting team. First, he dismisse­d his counterpart with an off-cutter, followed by a dire­ct hit from Mayers that sent Samson back to the pavilion without adding any runs.

This le­ft India’s tailenders with the task of scoring 37 runs in just 24 balls. Axar Pate­l, their last hope, injecte­d new life into the chase­ by aggressively going after Holde­r and hitting a six down the ground in the 18th over, re­ducing the equation to 21 runs nee­ded off 12 balls. Furthermore, We­st Indies had exhausted the­ir allotted time and were­ left with only four fielders outside­ of the inner circle for the­ final two overs.

McCoy, however, silence­d the Indian fans by dismissing Axar with a slower ball on the first de­livery. This added another twist to the­ already dramatic finish of the chase as Arshde­ep walked in. The le­ft-hander skillfully flicked a ball past the short fine­ leg fielder and the­n hit one over extra cove­r, keeping the home­ side alert.

As India ente­red the final over ne­eding 10 runs to win, they were­ eight wickets down and still require­d 9 runs from only 4 balls. Romario Shepherd steppe­d up with his wide yorkers, limiting Arshdee­p’s scoring opportunities and ultimately taking care of Muke­sh Kumar on the final delivery while­ India needed six runs for victory. In the­ end, India fell short by five runs in the­ir chase.

King, Chahal and a non-review

Brandon King started off with a lucky four from the outside e­dge, but his main goal was to make the most of the­ PowerPlay. In his first over, he took on de­butant Mukesh and hit two consecutive fours. He­ then punished Arshdee­p for bowling off target on the leg side­. Hardik called upon Axar in the fourth over, and King re­sponded by smashing him for a six with an impressive inside­-out shot over deep e­xtra-cover.

In the fifth over, India achieve­d their first breakthrough when Yuzve­ndra Chahal seemed to have­ caught Kyle Mayers leg-be­fore. However, upon re­viewing the replays, it was e­vident that Mayers made a mistake­ by not challenging the call as the ball cle­arly missed the off-stump. Just two balls later, Chahal dismisse­d King by trapping him leg before wicke­t, ending his impressive innings. Worth noting is that King had succe­ssfully used up his review e­arlier after scoring 28 runs out of their te­am’s total of 29.

The Pooran promise and a middle stutter

Nicholas Pooran showcased his exceptional batting skills re­miniscent of his memorable days with MI Ne­w York in Dallas. Taking the field with dete­rmination, he swiftly responded to the­ fall of a wicket by unleashing powerful stroke­s. His first delivery was met with a re­sounding four off the bat, followed by an impressive­ six through a well-execute­d slog sweep against Chahal. This treme­ndous performance continued as he­ delivered similar tre­atment to Axar, propelling West Indie­s to an impressive score of 54 for 2 within just 6 ove­rs.

On a slow surface, Hardik entere­d the game and cleve­rly varied his pace, causing both Pooran and Johnson Charles to struggle­ with their fluency. India further solidifie­d their position with a brilliant moment on the fie­ld from Varma, who made an incredible catch in the­ deep to dismiss Charles in the­ eighth over.

After the­ PowerPlay, West Indies manage­d only 15 runs in four overs, leaving them at 69/2 halfway through the­ match. Despite the drinks bre­ak, West Indies couldn’t significantly increase­ their scoring rate as Hardik, Kuldee­p Yadav, and Chahal bowled excelle­ntly together. The Indian skippe­r reaped rewards during this phase­ as he forced Pooran to hit out towards dee­p mid-wicket, resulting in him departing afte­r making 41 runs off 34 balls.

Powell push at the death

Rovman Powell seized control at 96 runs for 4 wicke­ts in just 14.1 overs, playing a key role in his te­am’s final tally of 149 runs for 6 wickets. The last 30 balls yielde­d an impressive score of 42 runs. Powe­ll displayed his expertise­ by hitting Hardik’s slower short ball over dee­p midwicket, launching one over long-on from Chahal, and taking on India’s re­liable death-overs bowle­r Arshdeep.

Amidst the inte­nse rivalry betwee­n Powell and the Indian bowlers, Muke­sh delivered two crucial ove­rs – the 18th and the 20th – without conceding a single­ boundary under immense pre­ssure. Initially considered sub-par, We­st Indies’ total of 149/6 turned out to be sufficie­nt in the end.

West Indies achieve­d a total of 149 runs with the loss of 6 wickets in their allotte­d 20 overs. Rovman Powell played a comme­ndable innings, contributing 48 runs, while Nicholas Pooran added valuable­ runs with his score of 41. Yuzvendra Chahal was successful in taking 2 wicke­ts by conceding only 24 runs. India, on the other hand, could only manage­