West Indies stun India by four runs in T20 opener, draw first blood
West Indies players embrace after defeating India for 4 runs in their first T20 cricket match on Thursday. AP
After posting a fighting total of 149/6 on a bowling friendly wicket, West Indies restricted India to 145/9 to draw the first blood in the series. Chasing, India kept on losing the wickets on regular intervals and failed to get the partnerships going.
Earlier, captain Rovman Powell (48) and Nicolas Pooran (41) top-scored for West Indies as other batters couldn’t stay long on the crease.
For India, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh got two wickets each while skipper Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav claimed one wicket apiece.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, West Indies started well with opener Brandon King going great in the first four overs before Chahal’s double strike dented hosts.
Chahal removed both openers Kyle Mayers and King in quick succession, reducing the host to 30/2 in five overs. Then, Pooran came and started off with a decent boundary followed by a massive six to take the power-play total to 54-2.
Kuldeep came into attack in the eighth over and got the wickets of Johnson Charles, who miscued the slog sweep and the ball was in the air for a long time. Debutant Tilak Verma ran across to his left from deep midwicket, sliding through to take a fine catch.
Indian bowlers managed to keep the host’s run rate in check as West Indies were 69/3 at the halfway mark. Afterward, Powell went for a couple of boundaries to add crucial runs to the board.
In the 14th over, Kuldeep bowled a skillful googly that created an opportunity to dismiss Powell, but unfortunately, the Windies captain survived as Shubman Gill dropped the catch. However, in the very next over, Pandya, who came to bowl in place of Chahal, managed to dismiss the well-set Pooran for 41.
Shimron Hetmyer then came and smashed a fantastic boundary and Powell finished the over with a maximum. With 11 runs coming off the 15th over, West Indies crossed the 100-run mark.
Powell went for a few big hits in the next two overs. Before, Arshdeep struck in the penultimate over and removed Hetmyer for 10. In the same over, he removed the dangerous-looking Powell for 48, denying him a fifty.
Mukesh started the final over well with four consecutive singles before conceding a no ball but he continued with his disciplined bowling as West Indies settled for 149/6 in 20 overs.
Meanwhile, India and veteran Bengal batter Manoj Tiwary has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Tiwary represented India in 12 ODIs and three T20Is, with his best knock in international cricket being an unbeaten 104 against West Indies in a 50-over game in Chennai in 2011.
Apart from his sporadic appearances for India, Tiwary was a formidable figure in the Bengal batting line-up, making 9908 runs in 141 first-class matches, averaging 48.56, including hitting 29 centuries and 45 half-centuries, with an unbeaten 303 being his best score.
He also captained Bengal to reach the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy final, where the side finished as runners-up to Saurashtra. Tiwary also amassed 5581 runs from 169 List A games and 3436 runs from 183 T20 games. Tiwary is currently the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports in the West Bengal government.
“Goodbye to the game of cricket. This game has given me everything, I mean every single thing which I had never dreamt of, starting from the times when my life were challenged by different forms of difficulties. Will ever be grateful to this game and to the GOD, who has always been by my side throughout,” said Tiwary in a note on his Instagram account on Thursday.
Tiwary came into the national reckoning after making 796 runs at an average of 99.50 in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy and was included in India’s squad for the tour of Bangladesh, where a shoulder injury sustained during practice denied him an international debut.
Agencies
Trinidad and Tobago
