Brief Score: West Indies 149 for 6 (Powell 48, Pooran 41, Chahal 2-24, Arshdeep 2-31) beat India 145 for 9 (Tilak 39, Holder 2-19, McCoy 2-28) by four runs.
Player of the Match: Jason Holder
West Indies claimed a hard-fought four-run victory over India in the opening T20 International, defending a modest 150-run target. India, at 77-3 in the 11th over with Tilak Varma’s debut score of 39 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 21, faltered, losing 6 wickets for 68 runs.
Shimron Hetmyer, returning to international cricket after a year, played a vital role in the field for West Indies, taking three catches and executing a run-out in the final over.
Twenty-year-old Varma, who impressed in the IPL with 343 runs for the Mumbai Indians, scored 39 hitting three sixes in his 22-ball innings, two of which came off Alzarri Joseph’s first three balls. He was caught at fine leg by Hetmyer off Romario Shepherd in the 11th over.
Suryakumar fell ten runs earlier, caught brilliantly by Hetmyer off Jason Holder’s bowling.
Although skipper Hardik Pandya (19), Axar Patel (13), and Arshdeep Singh (12) made useful contributions, they struggled to accelerate on a slow pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium.
Holder was the standout performer for West Indies with figures of 2-19 from four overs and was named the Man of the Match.
West Indies, choosing to bat after winning the toss, posted 149-6, with captain Rovman Powell top-scoring with 48. Powell’s 32-ball knock included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Nicholas Pooran contributed 41 runs, but West Indies managed only 21 runs off the last three overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Kyle Mayers and Brandon King, while Kuldeep Yadav removed Johnson Charles. Pooran and Powell added momentum to the innings before their dismissals.
The next two games will be played in Bridgetown on Sunday and Tuesday, with the series concluding in Lauderhill, Florida, on August 12 and 13. India previously won the Test series 1-0 and the ODIs 2-1 against West Indies.
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