KOLKATA: India overcame a mid-inni­ngs blip to beat West Indies by six wickets in the first T20 here at the Eden Gardens on Wed­n­­esday.

Chasing 158, the hosts, who swept the preceding ODI series 3-0, got off to a flying start before West Indies made a brief comeback.

Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer then added 48 runs in 4.2 overs to help India home with seven balls to spare.

Kieron Pollard retu­rned from a knee injury but they posted a modest 157-7 after being put into bat.

After Brandon King fell in the first over, Kyle Mayers made 31 but it was Nicholas Poo­ran’s 43-ball 61, featuring five sixes, that took West Indies close to the 150-mark.

Debutant leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi claimed Roston Chase and Rovman Powell in the same over and Harshal Patel (2-37) dismissed Pooran in the 18th over.

Pollard made a breezy 24 not out but West Indies still fell short of the 175-mark.

Captain Rohit Sharma led by example when India began their chase, welcoming bowler Odean Smith with two sixes and as many fours in a 22-run over.

Rohit fell after a 19-ball 40, caught trying to clear the midwicket boundary off Chase.

West Indies attempted a comeback after Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant fell in quick succession but Yadav and Iyer played sensibly to frustrate them. Iyer remained unbeaten on 24, sealing the victory with a six off Fabian Allen.—Reuters

Scoreboard

West Indies:

B. King c Yadav b Kumar 4

K. Mayers lbw b Chahal 31

N. Pooran c Kohli b Patel 61

R. Chase lbw b Bishnoi 4

R. Powell c Iyer b Bishnoi 2

A. Hosein c and b Chahar 10

K. Pollard not out 24

O. Smith c Rohit b Patel 4

Extras (LB-6, W-11) 17

Total (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 157

DID NOT BAT: F. Allen, R. Shepherd, S. Cottrell

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (King), 2-51 (Mayers), 3-72 (Chase), 4-74 (Powell), 5-90 (Hosein), 6-135 (Pooran), 7-157 (Smith)

BOWLING: Kumar 4-0-31-1 (1w), Chahar 3-0-28-1, Patel 4-0-37-2 (3w), Chahal 4-0-34-1 (1w), Bishnoi 4-0-17-2 (6w), Iyer 1-0-4-0

INDIA:

R. Sharma c Smith b Chase 40

I. Kishan c Allen b Chase 35

V. Kohli c Pollard b Allen 17

R. Pant c Smith b Cottrell 8

S.Yadav not out 34

V. Iyer not out 24

Extras (LB-1, W-3) 4

Total (for four wkts, 18.5 overs) 162

DID NOT BAT: D. Chahar, H. Patel, R. Bishnoi, B. Kumar, Y. Chahal

Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Rohit), 2-93 (Kishan), 3-95 (Kohli), 4-114 (Pant)

Bowling: Cottrell 4-0 35-1 (1w), Shepherd 3-0-24-0 (2w), Smith 2-0-31-0, Hosein 4-0-34-0, Chase 4-0-14-2, Allen 1.5-0-23-1

RESULT: India won by 6 wickets. Series: India lead the three-match series 1-0.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Ravi Bishnoi

UMPIRES: Jayaraman Madan­agopal, K.N. Ananthapa­dmanabhan (both India)

TV UMPIRE: Virender Sharma (India) Match referee: Manu Nayyar (India)

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2022