West India v India, 1st T20I: West Indies Player Ratings

The cricket fans in the United States of America were treated with a mouth watering game of cricket as India and West Indies played a closely fought contest at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Florida. The ‘Men in Blue’, after being set a massive target of 246 runs to chase, took the chase till the last over riding on KL Rahul’s century before faltering at the last moment.

It was a batsmen’s game as both teams scored a record 489 runs in just 40 overs. The West Indian began well and in the end finished on high after being pushed on the back by the Indian trio of KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma. The batsmen had a terrific day while the bowlers had a terrifying day. But it all ended well for the Caribbean Kings as they managed to snatch the game off the last ball of the match.

1. Johnson Charles – 10/10:

Johnson Charles was breathing fire today. He led the onslaught straight on before Evin Lewis switched on the nitro and propelled the Windies total. The right-hander struck 79 runs off just 33 balls at a strike rate of 239. His hit 7 sixes and 6 fours during his stay and was the one who set the momentum, dominating the run scoring affair during the opening stand of 126 runs which he shared for the first wicket with Evin Lewis.

2. Andre Fletcher – 5/10:

Fletcher, the wicket-keeper batsman, did not get any chance to bat. But he was good behind the wicket and was involved in the biggest dismissal of the day when he took a wonderful catch off Dwayne Bravo’s bowling to send Virat Kohli back to the pavilion.

3. Evin Lewis – 10/10:

Evin Lewis was rightly judged as the ‘Man of the match’ for his maiden T20 century. He crafted his innings beautifully. While Johnson Charles, opening partner, dominated the first half of the innings Lewis took charge in the second half. He hit sixes like there was a million dollar advertisement for it in the stand to leave the Indian bowlers completely paralyzed. He began playing second fiddle to Charles and then completely went hammer and tongs hitting 5 sixes and 15 fours in his 51 ball 110 runs knock.

4. Marlon Samuels – 3.5/10:

He did not get any substantial opportunity to bat. In the second innings, Samuels became part of the chaos in the last over. Samuels dropped MS Dhoni off the first ball standing at the slips in the final over. With India needing 8 runs off 6 balls, it was a vital mistake. Ironically, he was also the one who completed the win for his team after he redeemed himself and took a catch standing at the same position under pressure.

5. Lendl Simmons – 2.5/10:

Lendl Simmons also had a short 2 ball stay at the crease before he was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah in the final over of the match.

6. Kieron Pollard 6.5/10:

Kieron Pollard had a satisfying day in both the departments. In the first innings, Pollard struck a useful 15 ball 22 run featuring two sixes. This short cameo helped West Indies keep the aggressive momentum. Coming back in the second innings as the bowler, Pollard did a relatively good job finishing with figures of 1/30 in his 3 overs spell.

What makes his bowling spell special from ordinary was that his only wicket of the day was Rohit Sharma. Sharma had completely threatened to take the game away from them. He rebuilt the chase wonderfully. But, it was Pollard who brought the turnaround dismissing him in the 12th over of the match to bring his team back on track.

7. Andre Russell – 5.5/10:

Andre Russell also made a satisfying all-round performance. He played an entertaining short entertaining cameo of 22 in just 12 balls studded with 2 sixes and 1 four. With the ball he was tad expensive, giving away 53 runs in his four-over spell. He began well and had a good opening spell in which he took the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. But, unfortunately, had to bear the brunt of KL Rahul and MS Dhoni later on which ruined his numbers.

8. Dwayne Bravo 9/10:

Dwayne Bravo was, undoubtedly, the man who turned the match upside down in favor of his team. He was the real champion. He didn’t get any opportunity to bat but made his presence felt in the in the second innings as a fielder and as well as a bowler. He started off by taking an acrobatic catch to save a certain boundary and help dismiss Ajinkya Rahane. With the ball, He bowled a match-winning spell of 2/37. What makes his spell highly important were his victims today. Bravo’s first was the golden wicket of Virat Kohli. He received some hammering in the next two over but made up for that by taking the wicket of MS Dhoni off the last delivery to give a dramatic finish to the game.

9. Carlos Brathwaite – 7/10:

For Carlos Brathwaite, it was a special day. The all-rounder took the field as the captain of the side for the first time. Big things were expected from him and he did not disappointment to be fair. While his batsmen did the job brilliantly for him, the bowlers made things difficult. However, he remained calm all throughout the India’s chase and didn’t look frustrated at all. Unfortunately, he had an off day today in batting and bowling department. First, he could not totally capitalize final overs. Coming in to bat at number five he made only 14 off 10 balls and was dismissed with one over left for the innings to finish. His time with the ball was forgettable as he gave away 47 runs in his four-over spell without any success.

10. Sunil Narine – 1/10:

Sunil Narine had a rare off day today and was complete rendered ineffective. Narine’s mixture of off-breaks and knuckleballs could not baffle the Indians today as he was thrashed for 50 runs in three overs to finish with the worst economy rate among the West Indians.

11. Samuel Badree – 2/10:

World’s number one ranked T20 bowler also had a sad day. He was just used for two overs which cost his team 25 runs. Brathwaite opted to use him only for the opening spell. In his first over, he gave away 14 runs after getting hit for three fours by Rohit Sharma. In his following over, he gave away another 11 runs and this time was made victim by Virat Kohli who smacked him for two fours in the over.