India’s new ‘finisher’ Dinesh Karthik showed his worth in the first T20I against West Indies when he played a superb innings to power India to 190 at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad. West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran had won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma hit his stride after being rested for the ODI series and scored 64 runs off 44 balls – an innings that included 7 fours and 2 sixes. Suryakumar Yadav sizzled as an opener, but Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya could not make any major contributions.
Dinesh Karthik started rather cautiously when he scored just 17 runs in his first 12 deliveries. However, he flicked the switch and smacked 24 runs in his last 7 balls.
After a breezy start by Kyle Mayers, West Indies could never get going as the Indian spinners strangled the batters on a sluggish pitch. Ashwin was frugal and he also sent back Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer – the two left-handers in the middle order. Ravi Bishnoi then dismissed Rovman Powell and Odean Smith in successive overs and this sealed the game for the visitors. West Indies could take a look at the composition of their side for this match and might opt to have an extra spinner.
Weather Update:
West Indies vs India 2nd T20 International will take place at the Basseterre in Saint Kitts and Nevis. There are low chances of rains as the precipitation stands at 17-25 percent and the sky will be more or less clear. Humidity will be around 71-80% according to weather.com. The temperature will hover around 28-32 degrees Celsius.
Predicted Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
West Indies: Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran (capt & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh Jr
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