India
emerged triumphant by a margin of 2-1 in the three-match long T20I series
against the visiting Caribbean side. After a rather morale-dipping loss in
Kerala, it was essential that Virat Kohli’s men set a positive note from the
very start of this game to avoid any troubles thereafter and thus put the
entire series on a thin line of sorts.
Here, we
overlook the entire match in detail:
Match Overview:
First Innings:
To put up a
total whilst batting first has been a cause of concern for the Indian team
since a pretty long time in the limited-overs version but they were able to
break the shackles tonight and go completely berserk in their pursuit of
comprehensively dismantling the morale of the West Indian bowling unit. KL
Rahul and Rohit Sharma started off in astounding fashion as they bagged runs at
12 RPO in the first six overs. Later on, KL’s flawless stroke-play continued
whilst the duo put up an opening stand of 135 runs in less than 12 overs.
Continuing their newfound norm of promoting a promising talent to play in one of the higher batting positions, Rishabh Pant was sent out to bat at number three ahead of Kohli. Whilst the experiment paid off with Shivam Dube getting a half-century batting at the same spot in the previous T20I, Pant failed to make the most of it as he departed for a duck and hence the captain had to arrive on the crease shortly afterward. Virat unleashed the sheer genius that encapsulates his skin like that of a cricketer and smoked away seven sixes in his fantastic knock of 70 runs in merely 29 deliveries. The Indians got to a total of 240 at the end of 20 overs with KL Rahul top-scoring with 91 runs to his name.
A blistering knock from Kohli in the death overs helped India reach 240.Image: BCCI
Second Innings:
Chasing a target this steep was always going to be difficult for the Windies and a strong start from the Indian pacers helped the home side obtain a stronger hold over the proceedings quite early into the game. Deepak Chahar, who had a difficult few games before this one roared back into form as he bowled four overs, scalped two dismissals and conceded only 20 runs in return.
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar and Mohammed Shami aided him well and the Indians struck three early
wickets before Kieron Pollard tried to stick the batting order together by
demonstrating his natural brute flair and the general understanding of the
pitch at Wankhede. He took the bowlers to the cleaners and so did Shimron
Hetmyer but just at the moment when the two of them looked in course to revive
their chances in the game, they were sent back to the pavilion by a resilient
Indian bowling unit. If the Indian batting was brilliantly free-flowing
tonight, the bowling was effectively efficient too and didn’t panic even in the
moments when the West Indies were scoring runs aplenty and at a good rate too.
Player of the Match:
KL Rahul:
KL Rahul anchored the innings for Team India with a brilliant 91.Image: BCCI
Shikhar
Dhawan’s injury ahead of this series opened up the gates for KL Rahul to cement
his spot in the T20I spot after spending a long time in the sidelines. KL is
someone who has always preferred to bat at the top and a pitch like the one at
offer in the Wankhede generally suits him too as its fast-paced nature and
generally shorter boundaries mean that stroke-making is more convenient here.
He had already scored a century here in the previous season’s IPL against the
Mumbai Indians and something of a similar sort were well on course to happen
tonight if not for that fatal dismissal towards the end of his innings. He
scored 91 runs including four sixes and nine boundaries in a span of 56
deliveries. KL’s timing with the willow was impeccable and so was his ability
to maneuver the field with his deft hands. Moreover, his tendency to score
sixes at a regular rate make him an all-round package when it comes to the
shortest format of the game and hence it is necessary that he gets the deserved
praise and applause for his performances in this series after having copped a
lot of flak for his failures in Test matches in the past.
All the details:
Stat Attack:
Team India played its final T20I match this decade and sealed a memorable win.
1. This is
India’s third-highest T20I total ever. The first one is 260/5 against Sri Lanka
at Indore in December 2017.
2. This is
the first-ever T20 match when three players of a team crossed 70+ runs. (Stat
Credit: @kaustats in Twitter)
What’s next for Team India?
Team India will now face the West Indies in the first ODI of the three-match series
on the 15th of December in Chennai.