India vs Windies 2018: 1st T20I, Kolkata - Match Report

India was able to win the first T20I by five wickets after beating Windies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, thus drawing the first blood in the T20I series. Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl. The hosts were able to restrict the visitors to a paltry score of 109 in the allotted 20 overs. The tourists kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never got the momentum in their batting innings.

Kuldeep Yadav was the chief destroyer of the Windies innings as he scalped three wickets. The mystery chinaman spinner was able to get the ball in the right areas and bowled fine wrong ones to bamboozle the Windies batsmen.

Thus, it was a fine start from the Indian bowlers. The rest of the Indian bowlers, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed and Umesh Yadav scalped one wicket each.

On the other hand, India got off to a stuttering start in their batting innings. The Men in Blue lost their experienced batsman, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in quick succession. The Windies debutant Oshane Thomas was breathing fire as he bowled quick. Furthermore, he was able to get movement from the track and breathed down the neck of the host’s batsmen.

The Windies skipper Carlos Brathwaite took two more wickets to further cause chaos in the run chase. However, Dinesh Karthik was able to make the most of his experience. The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman batted with guile and took the team through to the finishing line.

Krunal Pandya was able to provide the finishing touches with Karthik, as the southpaw batsman scored a quickfire knock of 21 runs off just nine balls. Therefore, India was able to win the first match after early hiccups in their batting innings.

The second T20I between India and the Windies will take place on 6th November.