India vs West Indies 1st T20I, Eden Gardens: Kuldeep Yadav, Dinesh Karthik Star as India Beat Windies by 5 Wickets to Take 1-0 Lead

India defeated West Indies by five wickets in the first T20I on Sunday. Sent into bat, West Indies were restricted to 109 for eight and India chased down the target of 110 in 17.5 overs at the Eden Gardens.

India vs West Indies 2018, 1st T20I: Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (31*) and debutant Krunal Pandya held their nerve to take India home comfortably after an early stutter against Windies in the first T20I at the iconic Eden Gardens. Chasing a slim target of 110 to win, the men in blue didn’t had the best of the starts as they lose their star batsmen – captain Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply, courtesy some terrific pace bowling from young Oshane Thomas. Earlier, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav produced another brilliant performance with the ball as he picked up a three-for to restrict Windies 109/8 in 20 overs. Kuldeep led the Indian bowlers’ fine show to restrict West Indies to 109 for eight after stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma opted to field on a dew-laden Eden Gardens.

After Thomas’ fiery spell, Windies captain Carlos Brathwaite made the life miserable for the Indian batsmen as he accounted for the wickets of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. As the visitors kept chipping in with regular strikes, experienced batter Karthik maintained his cool and stayed away from any fancy shots to avoid any more damage. Playing his first T20I in the coveted India jersey, elder Pandya (Krunal) also passed the litmus test at the international stage with some useful contribution with both bat and bowl.

It’s all over here at the Eden Gardens.#TeamIndia win by 5 wickets #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/zxDu8K9EYz

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 4, 2018

The Ahmedabad-born cricketer bowled a fine spell of 1/15 in his quota of four over before playing a handy cameo of unbeaten 21 off 9 balls to seal the victory for the hosts. Playing their first match at home without the inspirational Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India were 45 for four in eight overs, leaving their fragile middle order exposed. But the ‘local boy’ Karthik, who leads Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL, stayed calm in his 31 not out from 34 balls (3×4, 1×6) to steer India home with 13 balls to spare.

This was India’s first win against the World T20 champions since 2014, spanning five matches. The 21-year-old debutant pacer Oshane Thomas (2/21) gave Windies a flying start, removing both the openers — Rohit Sharma (six) and Shikhar Dhawan (three) — for 16 inside the third over. He bowled a peach of a delivery that clocked 147kph, the extra bounce taking an inside edge off Rohit’s blade to dismiss the stand-in skipper on his happy-hunting ground.

In his next over, he struck once again, rattling Dhawan’s middle-stump. It was a perfect scenario for dashing Delhi wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant as he had ample time in the middle to play a match-winning knock and justify his inclusion in the side. But Pant (1) got out playing a rash shot in his four-ball stay to become skipper Brathwaite’s first victim.

Back at the ground where he hit four sixes in an over to help his side win the World T20 two years ago, Brathwaite next dismissed KL Rahul (16) in a wicket maiden over to put India on the backfoot.

Fortunately for India, the target was not a steep one and all they needed was a sensible partnership, which turned out to be the 38-run stand from 45 balls between Manish Pandey (19) and Karthik.

Earlier, debutant Khaleel Ahmed (1/16) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/27) ensured that the Windies run-rate dried up before the spin duo of Krunal Pandya (1/15) and Kuldeep made merry. Kuldeep (3/13) also completed 100 wickets in T20 cricket.

Tottering at 63 for seven inside 15 overs, the Windies looked to fold up inside 100 but Fabian Allen (27 from 20 balls) and Khary Pierre (15 not out from 13 balls) lifted the total past 100. Krunal finished with excellent figures of 1/14 bowling his four overs at a stretch. After being hit for a six by Kieron Pollard in his first over, the left-arm spinner not only dismissed the explosive batsman but conceded just four runs in his final three overs to finish on a high.

Down with a “gastric complaint”, Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled out in the last minute despite being named in the XII, but his absence was hardly felt with Yadav and debutant and Khaleel doing a fine job.

Left-arm pacer, Khaleel, was sensational giving away just 10 runs from his three overs, including a maiden over to Pollard. It was in the same over the Windies batsmen made a mockery of running between the wickets and were sprinting against each other after confusion.

Opener Shai Hope, who had impressed with an unbeaten 123 and 95 in the ODI series, was the poor victim. Introduced in the fifth over, Bumrah picked up another in-form batsman, Shimron Hetmyer (10), in his fourth over.

Runs dried up early as the visitors struggled at 31 for three, and the World T20 champions never looked at ease in their favourite format, taking 62 balls to complete 50 runs.