Twitter Reactions: Carnage at the Wankhede as India beat the spirited West Indies to win the series

India have finally won a T20I series this year. And what made the win sweeter that they batted first and scored enough for their bowlers to defend the total at the Wankhede stadium. It was an absolute run-fest as a total of 413 runs were scored in 40 overs with 31 fours and 28 sixes and only 11 wickets fell. The spirited Caribbeans didn’t lose heart until the end and put up a fighting display only to come second.

West Indies‘ decision to bowl first spurred India up as they posted 240 runs on the board. But the visitors backed themselves to chase it. However, they got off to a horrendous start losing three wickets for just 17 runs on the board. Any other team would’ve given up there itself. But not the Men in Maroon. Shimron Hetmyer and Kieron Pollard stitched an excellent partnership to put the exhibition of power-hitting.

Hetmyer took the initiative first up while Pollard played second fiddle to him. The duo added 74 runs off just 38 deliveries but the former got out to a harmless full toss from Kuldeep Yadav. Jason Holder didn’t do much either and the onus, in the end, fell on Pollard who loves to lead from the front. With Hayden Walsh at the other end, he started to refuse the singles and literally hammered the ball like anything.

It was sixes and fours or nothing from him and single-handedly kept India on the tenterhooks until the 15th over of the chase. Pollard smacked 68 runs off just 39 balls but a mistimed pull shot off Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought his innings to an end and with it, ended a glimmer of hope for the West Indies. India sealed the series as they restricted the Caribbeans to just 173 runs for the loss of eight wickets and a memorable series came to an end.

Rohit, Rahul, Virat pummel West Indies as India post 240

After West Indies opted to bowl first, Indian batsmen cleared their intent from the word. It was literally a race between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to hit sixes. The Men in Blue knew that they had to post something out of West Indies reach in order to defend at the Wankhede. The jam-packed crowd, as a result, witnessed some majestic hitting from the opening duo.

Both of them played some eye-catching strokes to leave the fans in awe and of all of them, KL Rahul wristy whack on the leg-side which went for four topped the list. Meanwhile, Rohit got injured while running and it was only stand and deliver stuff from him since then. He was exceptional as well with India getting a superb start of 135 runs for the first wicket in just 70 balls. Rohit got out after scoring 71 runs off just 34 deliveries.

Rishabh Pant was promoted to number three to make full use of the start. But the southpaw wasted yet another opportunity to score runs and bagged a second-ball duck. Virat Kohli then walked in at four and what followed was absolute carnage in Mumbai. The Indian captain brought some outrageous strokes off his book even as Rahul slowed down a bit late in the innings.

However, nothing was stopping Kohli though as he raced away to a 21-ball half-century. He finished the innings with a six straight down the ground as India finished strongly on 240/3 after 20 overs. Kohli remained unbeaten on 70 off just 29 balls with four fours and seven sixes while KL Rahul missed out on a well-deserved ton getting out on 91 off 56 balls (9 fours and four sixes).

The score eventually proved enough for the hosts to win the series even though West Indies, at one stage, looked interesting in chasing down the total with the way their Kieron Pollard was hitting maximums at will.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: