Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer stitched 48 runs for the fifth wicket as India defeated West Indies by six wickets in the first T20I in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Suryakumar returned unbeaten on 34(18) while Iyer scored 24(13) as India chased down the 158-run target with seven balls to spare.
After inviting West Indies to bat first the visitors piled 157/7 in 20 overs. In response, India raced to 50 in the first 5 overs. Ishan Kishan was slow off the blocks but he picked up his pace after Rohit Sharma smashed Odean Smith for 22 runs in one over. Their stand came to an end on 64 as Roston Chase got the wicket of Rohit (40 off 19).
Following his dismissal, India lost three wickets in quick succession in the form of Virat Kohli, Kishan and Rishabh Pant. However, another impressive show by Suryakumar helped India close the contest comfortably in the end.
Earlier in the first innings, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Brandon King to give an early breakthrough. Then, Kyle Mayers and Nicholas Pooran dealt in boundaries to take the visitors past 50 inside 7 overs.
However, Yuzvendra Chahal snapped that stand by dismissing Kyle Mayers on 34 At the halfway stage, WI reached 71/2. The scoreline became 74/4 after 11 overs as debutant Ravi Bishnoi bagged two wickets in the same over- dismissing Powell (2) and Chase (4). A couple of overs later, Deepak Chahar came back to scalp Akeal Hosein’s wicket.
Pooran breathed life into the innings as he notched up a brilliant half-century. He was then dismissed by Harshal Patel on 61, who also bowled a brilliant final over to help India restrict West Indies to 157/7 in 20 overs.
Man of the Match Ravi Bishnoi.
