WI v IND, One-off T20I – Windies Player Ratings

After dominating the 5-match ODI series, India went into the one-off T20I against Windies hoping to end the tour on a perfect note. The T20 World Champions were certainly going to pose a greater challenge in the shortest format of the game and that’s exactly what transpired at the Sabina Park in Jamaica. At the end, it turned out to be all about one man -Evin Lewis, who took a liking to the Indian bowlers and took his side to victory single-handedly.

Initially, Windies won the toss and opted to bowl. Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli went after the bowling from the outset and added 64 runs from 33 balls. Both of them departed in a quick succession but an 86 run stand between Rishab Pant and Dinesh Karthik kept India in the hunt. But a flurry of wickets at the death halted the progress and they had to settle for 190/6 after 20 overs, easily 15-20 runs short of what they were in line to achieve.

In reply, Evin Lewis started on an explosive note and the Indian bowlers were absolutely clueless. Chris Gayle was struggling at the other end but his partner made sure it didn’t impact the chase. Gayle got out in the 9th over at the team score of 82 in which he had contributed only 18 runs. Lewis was unflustered and notched up a splendid hundred. He found an able partner in Marlon Samuels as the duo took the side past the line by 9 wickets with 9 balls to spare.

Here are the player ratings of the Windies team

Chris Gayle – 4/10

Where all eyes were on the big man during the chase, it was his opening partner who stole all the wind. Gayle struggled to score quickly and could manage just 18 runs off 20 balls with a four and a six. He was the sole wicket to fall in the innings when he tried to loft Kuldeep Yadav and was caught by MS Dhoni off a top edge.

Evin Lewis – 9.5/10

The left-hander had scored a hundred the last time these two teams met in Florida last year. Lewis backed it up with yet another daunting century as he ran away with the game from the visitors. He scored 125 off 62 balls that included 6 fours and 12 sixes and absolutely decimated the Indian bowlers and kept sending the balls over the ropes on a consistent basis. He was aided by a couple of dropped chances but credit must go to the batsman for the explosive approach right through.

Marlon Samuels – 7/10

The right-hander walked in to bat at the fall of Gayle when Lewis was going all guns blazing at the other end. Samuels initially played second fiddle to his partner and let him flourish. Once he got his eye in, he too joined the party and smacked a few lusty blows to finish unbeaten at 36 from 29 balls with 5 fours and a six. With the ball though, he didn’t have a pleasant time as he was slammed for 32 runs in 3 overs and bagged the wicket of Dinesh Karthik.

Carlos Brathwaite – 3/10

The skipper was taken for 26 runs in the 2 overs that he bowled. In his first over, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli collected 12 runs. Then, Dinesh Karthik hammered him for a couple of sixes as the bowler conceded 14 runs. But Lewis’s explosion ensured that Brathwaite didn’t have to bat during the chase.

Sunil Narine – 6.5/10

Narine proved to be the most economical amongst the Windies bowlers. Although he didn’t pick up any wickets but kept a check on the scoring and didn’t let the Indian batsmen break free. He ended with figures of 22/0 from 3 overs.

Samuel Badree – 5.5/10

The leg-spinner bowled the first over of the Indian innings and was hit for 3 fours by Kohli and Dhawan and he ended up conceding 13 from it. But Badree made a good comeback and gave away 6 and 5 runs respectively from the next 2 overs. In the final over, he conceded 9 runs and ended with figures of 31/0 from 4 overs.

Jerome Taylor – 7.5/10

The pacer was the pick of the bowler in the first innings for his figures of 31/2 from 4 overs. He was the one who halted the progress of India’s innings when he dismissed Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni off consecutive deliveries in the 17th over. The visitors were looking well set to go past 200 but the double blow set them back and eventually, they fell a few runs short.

Kesrick Williams – 6.5/10

Although the figures of 42/2 may seem a little costly, the bowler accounted for two very crucial Indian wickets. First, it was Virat Kohli who lobbed the ball in the air off a slower delivery that found the fielder. Next, it was Kedar Jadhav later in the innings, who mistimed a pull shot and ended up giving a catch to Narine behind square.

Chadwick Walton, Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell didn’t get a chance to contribute and hence, they don’t classify for a rating.