Dwayne Bravo held his nerve to give just 6 runs of the last over to take West Indies to a 1 run win against India in the first Paytm T20 global at Central Broward Regional Park, Florida.
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After suffering a 1-run loss in the first T20I at Florida against West Indies, India went into the last match needing the win in order to level the series.
Rahul was the most notable contributor for India as he notched up a 46-ball unbeaten knock of 110, including 12 fours and 5 sixes to take his side agonizingly close to a win.
Evin Lewis smashed an impressive 100 and Johnson Charles hit 79 as the West Indies laid the foundations to mark Carlos Brathwaite´s first game as skipper with a victory.
In an anti-climactic finish to the second Twenty20 cricket global, wet outfield denied India chance to level the series after dominating proceedings in the West Indies innings as the match was called off due to wet outfield, here on Sunday.
Team India nearly pulled off the highest ever successful run-chase in T20 Internationals against the West Indies in United States of America but fell short by just one run.
Down after losing the Test series 2-0, the reigning T20I champions were at their lethal best after being sent in to bat by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in what is the US’s only International Cricket Council (ICC) recognised cricket stadium.
Chasing a mammoth total of 246, India got of to a positive start with Rohit Sharma scoring three boundaries in Badree’s second over after Ajinkya Rahane was promoted to open the innings.
Dhoni, on the other hand, said that the outfield was not risky to play on, and that he’d seen much worse in his career.
Charles’s innings featured six fours and seven sixes, and when he fell in the 10th over, the West Indies was well-placed at 126 for one. Lewis nearly managed another first, when hitting five sixes off the first five balls of the 11th over off the bowling of Stuart Binny, only to have to settle for a single off the final ball. That was the plan and we just kept hitting well, kept connecting. Evin Lewis, standing in for Chris Gayle, who was ruled out of the opening match through injury, scored 100 of those, including nine of the match’s 32 sixes, another record in T20Is.
With no further play possible due to wet outfield, West Indies claimed the trophy with 1-0 verdict after having won the 1st T20I by 1 run in a last-ball thriller.
Andre Russell (22) and Kieron Pollard (22) chipped in with late cameos.
India’s star batsman Virat Kohli has maintained his number one position in the ICC T20 batsmen rankings, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned to the top five in the bowlers’ list, climbing up to fourth spot from seventh. Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Ashwin picked two wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar chipped in with a wicket.
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Rohit needed only 22 balls to reach his 50 but saw his charge ended by Pollard (1-30).
