India stutter against West Indies owing to batters' poor show in the 1st T20I

After a victorious display in the final ODI, India got off to a poor start in the T20I series as West Indies prevailed in a thrilling encounter at Trinidad. What seemed like a cakewalk for the Indian batters at one point in time would soon give way to a rampant Caribbean invasion and eventually crumble despite a late flicker of hope coming from Arshdeep Singh.

Winning the toss, West Indies opted to bat first as they were hoping for a blockbuster showdown from the returning Nicholas Pooran, who lit up the MLC final with his own brand of brilliance, rocking a 55-ball-137. India handed over a couple of debuts as Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar made their way to the Indian cricket team, with the latter getting debut in all three formats of the game in a span of just 15 days.

Despite a fiery start from Brandon King, West Indies had an early stutter as Yuzvendra Chahal dealt a double whammy in his first three balls, sending the two Caribbean openers back to the pavilion. However, that would do very little to deter the spirits of a soaring Nicholas Pooran who came out all guns blazing, hammering away the leggie to all corners of the park.

West Indies lost another crucial wicket in the form of Johnson Charles as Tilak Varma announced his arrival at the international stage, taking a blinder off Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling. Pooran and Rovman Powell spearheaded the Caribbean charge scoring 41 and 48 respectively while Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav drew back the reins of an almost inexorable Caribbean chariot.

A 38-run stand between Pooran and Powell came to an end as the Indian skipper, Hardik Pandya, bagged the crucial scalp of the former while Arshdeep returned to remove Powell. 

Mukesh Kumar finished things on a brilliant note despite bowling a no-ball in the final over as he finished with decent numbers, restricting West Indies to 149/6 from their 20 overs. Chahal and Arshdeep were the pick of the lot for India as they claimed two wickets each while cumulatively giving away 55 runs from seven overs.

Chasing 150, India had a wobbly start with Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill barely troubling the scorers. Gill threw his wicket away with an unnecessary advancement down the track while Ishan Kishan’s attempt to unleash his salvo cost him dearly.

Suryakumar Yadav did get off to a good start while India’s star of the show was debutant, Tilak Varma who belted the Caribbean bowlers mercilessly. Thrown at the deep end, he took up the responsibility of negotiating with the wily Caribbean medium fast bowlers at one end while Surya held fort at the other.

Despite putting up a fine show, the two couldn’t really help India to a point from where they would have felt more comfortable as Surya returned for 21 while Tilak Varma’s gung-ho backfired as he holed out to Shimron Hetmyer for a 22-ball-39. With a lion’s share of responsibility falling on the shoulders of Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson, they could barely scratch the surface, throwing India further into the meat-grinder.

Axar Patel did try and salvage some momentum with a massive six but trying to follow it up with another biggie, he picked up Shimron Hetmyer in the deep as Obed McCoy chimed in with a wicket to remove India’s last hope.

Much to everyone’s surprise, an incoming Arshdeep showed his batting flair as he hammered McCoy for two consecutive boundaries, once again sparking hopes for the Indian cricket team. However, that was more of a pipe dream that the Indian fans were blowing at as the seasoned Caribbean bowlers knew exactly when to pull the plug, limiting India to 145/9 at the end of 20 overs.

The experienced troika of McCoy, Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd shared six wickets between them while electric fielding from the West Indies players allowed them to affect a couple of run-outs that included Samson and Arshdeep falling prey. Holder was awarded the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling figures as he clinched two wickets apart from also sending down a double-wicket maiden.