Did well to restrict India to 190 after brisk start – Carlos Brathwaite

India lost the one-off T20 game against the West Indies by 9 wickets to finish off a middling tour where they won 3 and lost 2 games. The World Champions razed past India’s total of 190 with 9 balls to spare. The chase was set up by opener Evin Lewis, who scored his second T20 hundred in 3 games against India.

Kohli and Dhawan got India off to a flier before both openers fell in the same over to peg back the visitors. Dinesh Karthik then led the batting charge top scoring with an enterprising 29-ball 48. Pant, who had to wait for a long time before getting some game time was dismissed for a slow 35-ball 38. With a flat wicket and short boundaries at the Sabina Park, India were set to amass a score in excess of 200 but the hosts did a great job in finishing the innings well as recognised by skipper Brathwaite.

“It was a very good wicket, but we did very well to keep them to 190, especially after the start they had,” Brathwaite said. “Kesrick [Williams] had two very important strikes in the sixth over and then when Jerome Taylor came back and finished, he brought us back into the game. We all thought that 190 was 20 runs short and then the batters proved their worth.”

Bowlers peg back India after breezy beginning

Indian openers had added 64 from 32 balls but the Caribbean bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets, especially at the death to keep the total to 190. West Indies coach Stuart Law also heaped praises on the bowlers saying that at one stage India looked like getting 240-250 runs on the board.

“The way the Indians started their batting innings on a very good wicket with fast outfield and small boundaries, I think we did really well to contain them to 190,” he said. “To be honest, at one stage I was looking at 240-250. We didn’t start very well with the ball but we finished very well. It was very difficult to bowl with the new ball, the spinners weren’t getting much turn with the new ball and it was a very easy-paced pitch. If you slightly missed your line or length, you’d go for four or six. But towards the end of their innings, we saw how well they (West Indies) bowled and managed to contain India. Keeping them under 200 was an outstanding effort.”

Brathwaite praises Lewis

Evin Lewis was at the cynosure of the win as he carved out a magnificent innings to pull off a stunning chase with utmost ease. As many as 12 sixes were hit in his knock of 125* which needed just 62 balls to complete. He also hit six fours in his innings and deservingly won the Man of the Match award. Brathwaite was pleased by the youngster’s ability to carry on after getting a breezy start.

“He’s a very positive young man, he hits the ball very very cleanly,” Brathwaite said. “Another good thing about him is once he gets in, he goes all the way. He has two hundreds and a 90, something like that. He doesn’t stop short, he doesn’t make 20s or 30s.

“Once he gets in, he’s very difficult to stop and he doesn’t give his wicket away. I don’t know what’s the secret, but looking from the outside, he’s a very unconventional player. There are players who are conventional and hit the ball hard, and he’s the other way around. He hits the ball sweetly and cleanly, he also hits them in some funny areas that fielding teams take a while to get accustomed to. But when they are trying to get accustomed to, he’s already 50-odd and heading to 90 or 100.”

India will be very disappointed with the result. It was a series where everyone expected the Kohli-led side to win all games but West Indies pulled a couple of wins during the last week to stun India.