Windies v India: Only T20I – 5 Game Changing Moments

Windies is a different team in the shortest format of the game and the reigning World T20 champions displayed how they can be a dominant side in the format. The Windies skipper Carlos Braithwaite won the toss and elected to bowl first on a batting track with as many as five changes for the home side.

For Virat Kohli, it was pretty much the same side except Umesh Yadav and Ajinkya Rahane who were dropped for Rishab Pant and Mohammed Shami. The Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli got the innings off to a flier with 64 runs coming for the first wicket before Kohli hit one straight to the hands of Sunil Narine off the bowling of Kesrick Williams.

Williams followed it up with the run-out of the other opener, who was caught short of his crease with a powerful throw from the bowler. Suddenly India found themselves at 65/2, with Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the middle. While the young wicketkeeper-batsman found it hard to time the ball, DK struck the ball sweetly to lead India to a total of 190 for the loss of six wickets, in their 20 overs.

For Windies, it was the opener Evin Lewis’ show, who knocked the screw of the ball with some sublime shots to all corners of the ground. On the other end, however, Chris Gayle failed to find momentum before being dismissed for 18 runs from 20 balls, failing to find the middle of his willow.

Marlon Samuels joined the left-hander in the middle of the crease to extend the partnership over 100 runs to help Windies wrap up the one-off T20 International against a lacklustre Indian team, who failed to come good on this occasion. The left-handed Lewis also recorded the most sixes by any player in a T20 International against India, with 12 under his name. Lewis ended the innings with a score of 125 runs from 62 deliveries; the highest score in a successful chase in the T20Is.

Here are the 5 Game-changing moments from the Windies-India T20 match:

1. Virat Kohli‘s wicket puts brakes

Last time India played England in a T20I match, it was KL Rahul who walked out to the middle of the pitch alongside Virat Kohli and this time around it was the southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, who walked out to bat alongside the skipper. The duo added 13 runs in the very first over, before equalling the same in the following over.

Kesrick Williams and Carlos Braithwaite had to bear the brunt of the brutal batting from the Indian openers, who knocked the ball to all parts of the park before Williams struck with skipper Kohli’s wicket. India had already scored 64 runs in 5.2 overs before the dismissal of the skipper. But that pulled the brakes on the explosive start, shortly after which Dhawan was dismissed too.

2. Jerome Taylor’s double-wicket over

It was a long time overdue spell from Jerome Taylor, who returned to the fray after spending several months out of the game. The first over, however, did not go according to the plans as he ended up giving 13 runs in the over.

However, the right-arm quick came back well later in the innings where his back-to-back wickets of MS Dhoni and Rishab Pant slowed down the things for the visitors just when they looked to accelerate towards a formidable total. The right-arm quick ended his spell with figures of 2/-31 on a flat batting pitch.

3. Pant’s struggle

For the first time on the tour, Rishab Pant was a part of the XI. Playing his second T20I a lot was expected from the young and dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman

The southpaw did not help himself as his timing was just out of place. Pant struggled to find momentum on the same track, where the likes of Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik and Elvin Lewis scored comfortably. The left-hander’s wicket, too, was a crucial dismissal as Team India’s total crashed down to 190 from the projected score of 210+.

4. Windies’ response 

The Windies opening pair of Chris Gayle and Elvin Lewis responded to the Indian total in some style with the latter tearing the Indian bowling attack apart. The duo put on 66 runs in the first six overs to lay the perfect platform for the chase.

Lewis continued his sublime form, against India scoring 61 runs off the first 30 balls he faced, Gayle didn’t have an outing as comfortable as he would’ve liked and was dismissed for 18 runs in 20 balls playing a nothing of a shot against chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. Lewis’ knock, however, was scintillating with the ball flying across the boundary ropes in quick succession.

The duo had put on 82 runs for the first wicket partnership before Kuldeep snapped the left-handed Gayle in the 9th over of the innings.

5. Elvin Lewis’ lives three lives

The left-hander would have walked back in the 6th over if not for the miscommunication between the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the pacer Mohammed Shami. They were both running in to take the catch while Virat would’ve been in a better position to complete it none of them was able to hear the other with so much wind and noise in the stadium.

In the very next over after the reprieve, Lewis had another life as Dinesh Karthik missed a skier in the deep as he misjudged the catch as the ball swung in the air with the wind. If you drop a batsman who has been hammering the bowling twice nine out of ten times he will make you pay for it and that is what happened today.

Lewis who already had a hundred in a T20I against India ended the innings with 125 runs in 62 deliveries, with 12 sixes and six boundaries.