The West Indies team kind of pulled out an upset when they defeated the Indian team in the first T20I match of their series. The West Indies team showed sheer grit as they defended a below-par target of 150 runs and registered a victory by 4 runs. Indian team would vary in their performance and would be certainly looking to improve and learn from the mistakes which they made in the first T20I.
Apart from the debutant, Tilak Verma, who looked comfortable in the middle, no other India batter looked comfortable in the middle. But for the West Indies side, their batting line looked formidable with the likes of Rovman Powell as well as Nicolas Pooran providing the team with solidity in the middle. Along with tha,t in the bowling department, Akeal Hosein provided a good start along with Obed McCoy and Jason Holder provided tremendous finishing touches in bowling. Let us look at three reasons why West Indies were able to beat India in the first T20I of their series:
1. Good Powerplay bowling
West Indies bowling lineup had an uphill task of defending a modest total of 150 runs but the opening spell from Akeal Hosein and Obed McCoy kept things tight for the host side and were also able to pick the wicket of both the Indian openers inside the batting powerplay.
The pressure of dot balls certainly got to the Indian openers as they were forced to hit ramp shots which eventually led to their downfall. Both Kishan and Gill fell trying to up the scoring rate which eventually led to their downfall.
2. Taking wickets in the middle overs
After a great start with the ball inside the batting powerplay, the likes of Alzarri Joseph and Romario Shepherd kept things well in control, despite some class hotting from the Tilak Varma in the middle order. The trio kept on exerting pressure and in the meanwhile also took regular wickets to make sure India don’t run away with the game.
In the process of doing so, they even bagged wickets in the middle overs, and Holder’s double wicket maiden in the 16th over pretty much sealed the deal for the Indian team.
3. Controlled aggressive batting
After getting off to a flier in the first couple of overs, West Indies were stunned after a double-wicket over by Yuzvendra Chahal but they did not give up on their fierce batting with the likes of Nicolas Pooran and skipper Powell steading the ship for the host in the match. The duo showed aggressive batting when needed as well as played with patience when they were dished with good bowling.