West Indies vs India 2022: 1st T20I – Who Said What

India started their five-match T20I series against West Indies with a big 68-run win in the first match at Brian Lara Cricket Academy Stadium on Friday. India put 190 runs on board after an impressive fifty from skipper Rohit Sharma and an unbeaten 41-run knock by Dinesh Karthik. West Indies batters struggled from the beginning and stumbled on just 122 runs after brilliant spells from Indian spinners.

West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran won the toss and decided to bowl first. Rohit, who was rested for the ODI series, started the inning with Suryakumar Yadav. Both the batters formed a 44-run partnership for the first wicket with an attacking approach from the start. Akeal Hosein handed the hosts the opening and dismissed Suryakumar who scored 24 runs in 16 balls. India lost in-form batter Shreyas Iyer in the next over who failed open his account.

Middle order batters Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, who were not part of the ODI squad, failed to make an impact, and India were struggling on 102/4 at the end of the 12th over. Rohit Sharma kept the scoreboard moving from the other end and smashed fifty. Jason Holder took his wicket with just five overs remaining. Rohit scored 64 runs off 44 balls at a strike rate of 145.45. But Karthik and Ravi Ashwin put on a show in death overs with an unbeaten 52-run partnership in just 24 balls. Karthik smashed 41 runs, including 14 runs off the last four balls and Ashwin remained unbeaten on 13 runs to guide India to 190/6.

West Indies openers Kyle Mayers and Sharmarh Brooks started well by hitting in-form Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 11 runs in the first overs. But Asrshdeep Singh gave India a break in the next over and dismissed Mayers, who scored 15 runs off just six balls. West Indies lost another wicket in form of Holder in the next over and never regained control for the rest of the inning. The hosts were restricted on 122/8 in 20 overs with opener Brooks scoring the highest 20 runs.

For India, Ashwin took two wickets while conceding just 22 runs in his four overs. Bishnoi and Arshdeep also took two wickets each and Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja contributed with one wicket. Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya conceded 12 runs in just two overs but failed to take any wicket. Indian finisher Dinesh Karthik won the player of the Match award for his unbeaten 41-run knock.

Losing skipper, Nicholas Pooran said:

Disappointed as a team. The crowd has been amazing., The players have been feeling very hurt but we will look to bounce back. 18 overs, it was 150, we were indisciplined and we paid the price. 190 was very challenging. e got a good tart but the batters did not carry on. we had already lost four wickets in ten wickets. The spinners did bowl well, but we were looking to restrict them to 170-180 and that would have been chaseasble.

Winning skipper, Rohit Sharma said: 

The shot making was not easy at the start. The guys who are set needed to carry on. There was some grip for the spinners. The nature of the pitch was slow. The way we finished off the first innings, 190 was great. We hung there and got more than a par score. We want to try certain things when we bat in the first six overs, when we bat in the middle and the end. There are certain facets that we want to improve and the players are given a job. We have to try the ideas and want to execute the skills. We want to try and do certain things and I think we are able to achieve certain things. The Indian team has received very good support here in West Indies and we want to provide them with entertaining cricket.

Player of the Match, Dinesh Karthik said:

The wicket was a little sticky. Was not a good wicket to start on but once set, it was good. I have been enjoying it a lot. It’s not something that you can be consistent at but I have the backing of the captain and coach. Assessing of the wicket is important. There are a lot of things that you need to be aware of. That comes with a little bit of practice.