West Indies defeated India by four runs in the first T20I match. After the match, West Indies player Jason Holder said that the 16th over was the turning point in the game. West Indies batted first and set a target of 149/6. India failed to chase down the target due to poor batting performance. India was kept at 145/9, thus West Indies won the match by four runs. West Indies won the first match of the five-match T20I series. In the post-match conference, West Indies all-rounder said Jason Holder said, “It (16th over) was the turning point based on the fact that the game was coming down very close.
They had set batters and we had to stay in the game. The guys really stuck together, it was a total team effort. The conditions played in the favour of the bowlers. We got early wickets, which is really important.” He added, “The amount of cricket I’ve been playing for the last three years, it’s a lot. I try to find some passages of break, get some time off, refresh and come back again. I think it (a break from the ODIs) was needed. I was happy that I stuck with my plans. I wanted to make them work hard for their runs, didn’t want to give any free runs.” WI skipper Rovman Powell also state that the five-match T20I series will be decided on their batter’s performance against the Indian spinners. It was evident from the first innings that batting on the pitch would pose a challenge for the batters. Powell highlighted the challenge that the pitch created for the batters. Along with this, Powell declared that the series will be decided on how West Indies batters play against the Indian spinners in the middle overs. “It’s a very good feeling. We talked about starting this series on a positive note and the guys did that. It was our game to lose, they didn’t have a set batter and I was confident going into the last over. After watching the Indians bowl, I thought we were a spinner short. We got to utilise what we have and back our skills. It was difficult (to bat),” Powell said. Coming to the match, West Indies won the toss and for a change, they decided to bat first.
The hosts managed to put up a total of 149-6. India struggled throughout the chase as wickets kept falling at regular intervals, which made it hard for them to chase down the target of 150. India against West Indies second T20I is on Sunday.
