Team India lost the two match Twenty20 series against West Indies 1-0 after rain and wet outfield forced to abandon the second T20I game at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground here on Sunday (Aug 28).
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Speaking of his partnership with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (43) and the duo’s failure to take India home despite the team needing a mere eight off the last over, Rahul said it was disappointing.
Rahul (110) was at the non strikers end. In fact it was in the first 12 overs where we gave away too many runs. West Indies also walloped 178 runs in boundaries (21 sixes and 13 fours), the joint third best in a T20I innings.
Chasing a mammoth target of 246 runs, India looked in control of things with Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane getting off to a flyer. One was Mishra and the other was KL Rahul. Three of the seven fastest 100-plus stands in this format have come in Lauderhill.
Still, even India’s captain was largely positive after a match that was an ideal advertisement for cricket in the U.S. It was the first time since 2012 that the country has hosted an worldwide and the first time India had ever played an global in the U.S.
Rahul kept the score board moving with a classy six over the covers off followed by an unorthodox reverse sweep for a boundary towards the third man.
Kudos to them. Indian bowlers executed their plans really well. I just went out there and backed myself. And when one of cricket’s all-time great finishers, Dhoni, joined him at the crease and started firing, the win, improbably, appeared there for India’s taking.
In a high-scoring encounter, West Indies beat India by 1 run in a thrilling first T20 match of the series played here on Saturday. Sixes and fours flowed fluently from his bat.
The 24-year-old Rahul, who was preferred over regular opener Shikhar Dhawan for the match, made the most of the opportunity, bringing up 89 runs for the third wicket with Rohit Sharma (62) before nearly guiding the team to victory with a 107-run stand with Dhoni.
100 came up in just the 8th over with just the loss of one wicket for the Carribeans.
But it was not over yet for the southpaw, who launched seamer Stuart Binny for five consecutive sixes in the 11th over to propel the Caribbean side to the 150-run mark. Posting 245 for six in their 20 overs, the current T20 World champs, managed to restrict India at 244 for four.
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Though a thunderstorm only struck for 15 minutes during the match, the officials were not satisfied with the condition of the outfield and called play off. Brathwaite concurred with their view, calling the conditions “unsafe”, according to ESPNCricinfo.
