In the West Indies tour of India, the hosts beat the visitors by six wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series. Valuable performances from Ravi Bishnoi, Rohit Sharma (40) and Suryakumar Yadav (34*) helped India to go over the finish line with ease.
The home team won the toss and chose to bowl in the Eden Gardens in a moderate swinging condition with a quick outfield. With a decent bowling performance, the Indian bowlers managed to restrict the tourists to a competitive total of 157 in their allotted 20 overs. The Indian skipper walked out to bat in the chase with Ishan Kishan (35). After a couple of silent overs, the star Indian opener started smashing the West Indies bowlers in all corners of the ground. Following Rohit’s explosion in the powerplay, India took full advantage of the field restrictions and gathered 58 runs in the first six overs. After a few dot balls, the run rate started to move higher, the 34-year-old failed to clear the log-on in the eighth over and India lost their first wicket. Virat Kohli (17) and Kishan stitched a small 29-run partnership that kept the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs. The two set batsmen lost their wickets in two consecutive overs and that brought Rishabh Pant (8) and Suryakumar Yadav to the crease. Yadav was looking in fine touch as he opened his account with a boundary. Pant was dismissed in Sheldon Cottrell’s over when he mistimed the shot while clearing the short fine leg. Venkatesh Iyer (24*) was the new batsman in at number six. Iyer and Yadav conjured a smart 48-run partnership, which helped India to register a comprehensive victory and take a lead of 1-0.
Nicholas Pooran (61), Kyle Mayers (31) and Kieron Pollard (24*) were major contributors with the bat for the Windies.
The debutant Bishnoi and Harshal Patel pocketed two wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal had one scalp each.
On the other side, for the Caribbean team, Roston Chase was the pick among the bowlers for two wickets for just 14 runs. Cottrell and Fabian Allen had a wicket each.
Bishnoi was adjudged Man of the Match for his economical bowling figures of 2 for 17.
Scorecard:
West Indies: 157/7, Overs: 20, Nicholas Pooran 61, Ravi Bishnoi 2/17
India: 162/4, Overs: 18.5, Rohit Sharma 40, Roston Chase 2/14