West Indies vs India, 5th T20I Stats Review: Brandon King’s feat, Tilak Varma's maiden international wicket, and other stats

Courtesy of Brandon King's exception innings with an unbeaten 85 off 55 balls, the hosts West Indies won the fifth and final T20I comprehensively by eight wickets in a series decider played at Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday, August 13. With this win, Windies also won the series, defeating India by a margin of 3-2. Nicholas Pooran also ably supported King, however, he couldn't see the team through as he was dismissed on 47. In the first innings, all-rounder Romario Shepherd bowled brilliantly to return with a four-for which restricted the opposition to a daunting total on a batting friendly track.

Speaking of how the game panned out, skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bat first. The Men in Blue fielded an unchanged team, while the West Indies made two changes, bringing in Alzarri Joseph for Obed McCoy and Roston Chase in place of Odean Smith. Team India's start was not promising as Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for just five runs, followed by his opening partner Shubman Gill, who fell early scoring nine runs in consecutive overs bowled by Akeal Hosein.

Later, Tilak Varma played a brief cameo, contributing 27 runs, including 18 runs in the last over of the powerplay. Then Roston Chase and Romario Shepherd joined the party, each picking up a wicket in their opening overs, which reduced India to 87/4. Chase dismissed Tilak, and Shepherd removed Sanju Samson, who once again failed to seize the opportunity, departing cheaply after scoring only 13 runs.

Subsequently, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya put together a partnership of 43 runs for the fifth wicket. Rain interrupted the game briefly, but once play resumed, India lost two wickets in quick succession - Hardik and Suryakumar. Shepherd broke the partnership by dismissing Hardik, and then Holder removed Suryakumar in the following over. Suryakumar Yadav reached his 15th half-century, scoring 61 runs before being dismissed by Holder. India managed to reach a total of 165 runs. Romario Shepherd secured 4 wickets, while Akeal Hosein and Holder claimed 2 wickets each.

In reply, the hosts got off to a shaky start, losing their first wicket early as Kyle Mayers was dismissed for 10 runs. Arshdeep struck in the second over to remove Mayers quickly. Following the early setback, Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran steadied the innings with their counter-attacking performances. King reached his seventh half-century with a six and remained unbeaten on 85. Tilak Varma secured his first international wicket by dismissing Pooran, who managed to score 47 runs. Shai Hope played a short cameo, contributing 22 runs and sealing the match with a six to clinch the series 3-2.

Meanwhile, let us look at the stats and numbers from the fourth T20I between West Indies and India.

68 – Kyle Mayers has amassed only 68 runs in his last four innings, maintaining a poor average of 13.60.

6000 – Sanju Samson (6011) achieved the milestone of 6000 runs in T20s during the 5th T20I against West Indies.

50 – Suryakumar Yadav marked his 50th innings in 53 matches in T20 Internationals.

107- The 107-run partnership for the second wicket between West Indies against India is the highest in T20I matches.

1- Tilak Varma secured his first wicket in T20 International cricket.

2- Tilak Varma (173) holds the second-highest run tally by an Indian in a T20I series against West Indies, following Virat Kohli's 183 runs in 2019.

2- Among Indian players, Tilak Varma (173) has the second-highest runs in their first five T20I appearances, behind KL Rahul's 179 runs.

4/31- Romario Shepherd achieved his best bowling figures in a T20I match, taking four wickets while conceding 31 runs in four overs.

85- Brandon King's impressive knock of 85 runs marks his best T20I performance to date.

1- West Indies secured their first T20I series victory against India in a series with a minimum of three matches.