India and West Indies locked horns in the first of the five-match T20I series. The men in blue came there in the middle with having regular skipper Rohit Sharma back in the playing XI. The hosts’ skipper Nicholas Pooran won the toss and invited the Indian team to bat first.
Batting first, the visitors posted a good total of 190 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Later on, the Indian bowlers restricted Nicholas Pooran & co. only on the score of 122 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Eventually, Rohit’s men won the first match by 68 runs and started the five-match T20 series in a fashion.
Indian cricket fans also reacted joyfully to India’s victory in the opening fixture of the T20I series. They appreciated the performances of both batters and bowlers of India for delivering stellar performances in the series opener.
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy knock followed by bowlers’ heroics helped India to thrash the hosts
Batting first, the Indian team did some changes in the batting order. Skipper Rohit Sharma came to open the innings with star batter Suryakumar Yadav. They provided a quick and vital start to India and made a partnership of 44 runs in just 4.4 overs before Jason Holder took the catch of Suryakumar. India lost the second wicket in quick succession as Shreyas Iyer couldn’t get off the mark and succumbed to McCoy.
But then onward, skipper Rohit Sharma took the charge and went on to play an important knock of 64 runs off 44 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes to his name. Senior experienced batter Dinesh Karthik’s fiery knock of 41 runs off just 19 balls played a very crucial role in India’s total of 190 runs at the end of 20 overs. Karthik also won the award of player of the match for his match-defining knock. Alzarri Joesph ended up as the highest wicket-taker with two scalps to his name.
While defending the target, Indian bowlers exceptionally well and restricted the hosts’ inning on the score of 122 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Shamarh Brooks was the Caribbean batter who could touch the mark of 20 runs individually for the team. Ravichandran Ashwin impressed everyone on his comeback by scalping two wickets after conceding just 22 runs in his quota of four overs. Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh also scalped two wickets each.
Here's how Twitter reacted to India’s win in the first T20I against the West Indies:
Bumrah, Bhuvi, Shami, Harshal, Chahal, Bishnoi, Arshdeep, Jadeja and Hardik 9 Excellent bowling options for India in T20WC. Will be interesting to see how Rohit goes about this.#INDvWI #WIvIND
— nipunnjain (@nipunnjain) July 29, 2022
#WIvIND #INDvsWIonFanCode #INDvWI #WIvsIND #Indvswi
— Anonymous9726 (@Anonymous97261) July 29, 2022
West Indies team which seemed pretty strong and sound on paper and stats,
meanwhile in reality: pic.twitter.com/AZccaP10Rx
Inswinger yorker from Arshdeep. What a bowling, he have been highly impressive.
— Muffadal Vohra (@Imkrrishh18) July 29, 2022
Big positive for India#WIvIND #arshdeepsingh pic.twitter.com/pvdr8PwAmG
Arshdeep Singh looks like a complete white ball bowler. He needs to be given a long rope. #WIvIND
— Rinda Ho (@Yunii_que) July 29, 2022
'Death overs specialist', Arshdeep Singh doing what he is best at 🔥 #TeamIndia #WIvIND
— Karamdeep 🎥📱 (@oyeekd) July 29, 2022
Also, his understanding of the game. Just prior to ball which took out Hetmyer, he asked Ashwin to pitch it up! By keeping same line.. Ashwin did the same and got wicket of Hetmyer. 👌#WIvsIND #WIvInd
— Partiush Sharma (@PartiushSharma) July 29, 2022
That was really funny as well shocking 😐 #WIvIND https://t.co/7o7mRH7sIr
— Tarun Sharma (@tarun_sharma396) July 29, 2022
Fantastic Batting Display from Rohit & DK tonight!👏👏👏
— THE ROCKSTAR (@VivJonty) July 29, 2022
While the Skipper led from the front with a Captain's Knock. Dinesh Karthik carried his #IPL2022 form & played a clutch innings for the team!💪💪💪#WIvIND #INDvsWI #WIvsIND #INDvWI #TeamIndia #RohitSharma #DineshKarthik pic.twitter.com/EM7qTsDC5x
The win percentage of Rohit Sharma is 84.37 in T20I as a captain. #RohitSharma #WIvIND
— The Earth Sports (@TheEarthSports) July 29, 2022
Glimpse of Today's match.India won the match by 68 runs. Unbelievable performance by Team India . Arshdeep & Ashwin Bowl well. Rohit & #dineshkarthik was Tremendous today.Rohit started well and Dinesh Karthik Great finish Touch. #INDvsWIt20 #WIvIND #IndvsWi #India @spocrichq pic.twitter.com/AObfpLr67g
— KAPIL DEV TAMRAKAR 🚀 🇮🇳 (@kapildevtmkr) July 29, 2022