Sherfane Rutherford stood up and batted well with the tail while captain Shai Hope played well for his half-century alongside a cameo from Akeal Hosein in the end as West Indies did well to get to 171 but were bowled out with 5 balls to spare. India were decent with the ball with debutant Naman Dhir picking up 3 wickets while Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel picked up 2 wickets apiece. India have done well so far, but now need to bat well with the bat in hand.
India strikes thrice to peg West Indies back in the power play
Put into bat first by India, captain and keeper batter Shai Hope and debutant Kamil Pooran came out to open the batting for West Indies while Arshdeep Singh had the new ball in hand for India. Hope was up and running as he lofted the ball over mid-off for a boundary. Mayank Yadav shared the new ball from the other end. Hope welcomed him with a boundary with a whip over midwicket for a boundary. He then thumped the ball down the ground to long-on for a boundary.
Hope then smashed him over mid-off for a boundary. Then he drilled the ball through the cover region for another boundary. Arshdeep continued as Pooran got a high full toss to slice it past short third man for a boundary as no ball was called for height. Arshdeep came back and finished the over well. Axar Patel came into the attack next. Pooran showed his talent as he made room and carved it over cover point for a boundary.
Arshdeep continued and got the breakthrough for India as Kamil chopped the ball back onto the stumps for 12 off 11 balls with 2 fours to his name. Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary with a clip behind deep backward square leg. Axar came to bowl the last over of the power play as Hetmyer was the man dismissed for 5 off 2 balls with a boundary to his name courtesy a run out. Rovman Powell came out to bat next.
Axar got his first as he knocked Powell over for a bronze duck as West Indies lost three in the power play. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next as West Indies finished the power play at 44/3 in 6 overs with Hope unbeaten on 25 off 20 balls alongside Rutherford unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball. India were the happier side as we entered the middle phase of the game.
Shai Hope shines with a half-century, but India tighten the screws with regular wickets in the middle phase of the game
Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack post the power play. Rutherford got a streaky boundary away as he looked to defend and got an inside edge past the stumps and away to the fine leg fence for a boundary as the 50 came up for the West Indies in 6.5 overs. Mayank returned to the attack and gave away four leg byes as a bonus to the batting side. Kuldeep continued as Rutherford took him on and deposited over extra cover for the maximum. Hope got into the act as he deposited Kuldeep over midwicket for the maximum.
Debutant Naman Dhir came into the attack to bowl the 10th over of the innings. Rutherford hung back and cut it away to deep backward point for a boundary. At the completion of 10 overs, West Indies were 82/3 when we paused for the Drinks Break at the halfway stage of the game. Axar returned to the attack after the power play as Hope edged the ball over short third man as the ball went away to the third man fence with Mayank letting go of the ball.
Rutherford took on Axar as he premeditated with a reverse sweep over backward point for a boundary and then bludgeoned the ball over midwicket for the maximum. The 50-run stand came up between the duo as Rutherford reached his 100th maximum in T20Is. The 100 came up for the West Indies in 11 overs. Naman continued as Hope slammed him away over wide long-on for the maximum. Hope reached his 13th T20I fifty in 36 balls.
Naman hit back hard as he dismissed Hope for a well-made 52 off 37 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name as Axar picked the catch in the deep. Roston Chase came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Kuldeep returned to the attack as Chase punched it down the ground past long-off for a boundary. Kuldeep hit back hard and removed Chase next ball plumb in front LBW as the batter walked back to the hut without reviewing for 5 off 3 balls with 1 four to his name.
Romario Shepherd came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Naman continued as Shepherd took him on and opened his front leg to sail it over square leg for the maximum. But Naman hit back yet again as he removed Shepherd the very next ball for 7 off 5 balls with a maximum to his name as he was holed out at Tilak Varma at long-off. Matthew Forde came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Kuldeep continued to bowl the 15th over of the innings and removed Forde for 2 off 4 balls as Ishan Kishan pulled off a stunner at deep midwicket as he got his hands at the right time. Shamar Springer came out to bat next. Kuldeep finished a good last over for himself to finish his spell. At the end of 15 overs, West Indies were 127/7 in 15 overs with Rutherford unbeaten on 35 off 23 balls alongside Springer unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls as we entered the death overs phase of the game.
Death overs mayhem amidst a flurry of wickets meant West Indies were bowled out for 171 in 19.1 oversÂ
Naman Dhir continued to bowl the 16th over of the innings. Springer took on Naman and muscled it down the ground over the bowler’s head for the maximum. Naman hit back again as he removed Springer for 9 off 7 balls with one six to his name as he was holed out to Axar at deep midwicket. Akeal Hosein came out to bat next. Mayank came back into the attack as Rutherford swished the ball past deep backward square leg for a boundary and then chopped it away over backward point for a boundary.
Arshdeep continued as Hosein took him on with a pull over deep backward square leg for the maximum. Rutherford then got to his half-century with a boundary with a drive towards long-off for a boundary. Mayank came to bowl the 19th over. Hosein slammed the ball down the ground for a boundary. Rutherford then smashed the ball high over backward square leg for the maximum. Mayank hit back and got rid of Rutherford for 56 off 34 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Shamar Joseph came out to bat next.
Axar came back to bowl the last over of the innings and got the West Indies all out as Hosein fell for 15 off 9 balls with 1 four and 1 six to his name as Ishan took the catch in the deep, Shamar Joseph remained unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball as West Indies were bowled out for 171 in 19.1 overs. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
India bowled decently out there and did well to bowl West Indies out. Naman Dhir on debut was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/31 in 4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 2/33 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with 2/26 in 3.2 overs. Arshdeep Singh finished with 1/34 in 4 overs. Mayank Yadav finished with 1/40 in 4 overs. Just 5 bowlers were used by India. This means that India’s target was 172 runs to win off 20 overs.
Who’s Winning, India or West Indies?Â
West Indies have got a fighting score on the board. 171 runs is a decent score and can be defended in Lucknow. Having said that, Sherfane Rutherford reckons they are 20 runs short of what they would have ideally liked. But if the visitors bowl well, they can dent India. But India has the batting and at this stage will be the happier side. They need to bat well and sensibly to win the contest.
Let’s see how things unfold in the chase on a sporting wicket in Lucknow.
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