West Indies defeated India by one run in a record run-laden T20I clash on Saturday after piling up the third highest ever total in the game’s shortest format.
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Dwayne Bravo (2-37) bowled the crucial last over, where he picked up the wicket of Indian skipper MS Dhoni in the last ball to clinch the match.
Chasing 246 for a win, India ended their run chase at 244 for 4 with Dhoni’s last ball dismissal, leaving Lokesh Rahul at 110 not out – his maiden T20I hundred.
Andre Russell (22) and Kieron Pollard (22) added late cameos to give Carlos Brathwaite the opportunity to mark his first game in charge with a much-needed win.
India’s One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 captain M S Dhoni has backed Virat Kohli to take over as skipper believing that the national team will dominate the Test arena and become the No 1 side at the end of the season.
Dhoni, however, said his bowlers would need to adjust quickly and reassess their game plan in a scenario where the opposition batsmen were going after them by raining fours and sixes, just like the West Indians did.
“We never do things easy, but we held our nerve”. “But in my mind I was thinking ‘really?'”, said Brathwaite.
India will now aim to level the series when they take on West Indies in the second T20 at the same venue later today.
Charles, who has been in terrific form since the ICC T20 World Cup, got West Indies off to a blistering start scoring 43 off 24 balls in the first five overs.
Team India nearly pulled off the highest ever successful run-chase in T20 Internationals against the West Indies in U.S. but fell short by just one run. But, Rahane (7), who was asked to open the innings with Rohit instead of Rahul, departed in the third over with Bravo taking a sensational catch near the boundary line. “So in my opinion it was unsafe, and even if the run-ups were good and a guy hits a ball in the outfield in a fast-paced T20 game and he chases behind it and pulls something, that could be the end of a guy’s career”. Instead, they managed just six and West Indies came home winners by a run.
India bowlers were on top of the west Indies batsmen.
Dhoni’s men, however, had the consolation of knocking off the highest ever T20I second innings score which is also the same 236 for 6 which the West Indies made against South Africa.
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Lewis, standing in for the injured Chris Gayle, reached exactly 100 off 48 balls with five fours and nine sixes and when he was out off the fifth ball of the 16th over, world champions West Indies were 205-3. Considering that the target was not too big in the Duckworth/Lewis equation, India may have been right to think that they were the favourites in the rain affected match.
