India vs West Indies: 4 reasons why West Indies lost the 1st T20I
In another captaincy assignment in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to field first in the first T20I against West Indies at Kolkata. The Indian team was without the services of few of their big boys as they roped in debutants Krunal Pandya and Khaleel Ahmed for their first taste of international flavour in this format.
The Indian bowlers came all guns blazing as the visitors lost the plot early in their innings. With three wickets lost inside the first six overs, West Indies could never recover as they somehow stumbled to 109 in their 20 overs. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for the home team as the chinaman bagged three crucial wickets to dent the opposition at regular intervals. It was an all-round bowling effort as each other bowler contributed with a wicket each.
In what happened to be a tricky chase in a low scoring fixture, India's formidable batting ensured an easy win in the end as they cruised to victory inside 18 overs with five wickets to spare. After losing their skipper early in the first over, India were dented with two quick wickets inside the first six overs. However, the partnership between Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey ensured a comfortable victory as India gained a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series before they head to Lucknow for the second T20I on November 6.
Here's a look at some of the reasons why West Indies lost the match:
#4. Lost way too many wickets in the Powerplay
It was never going to be easy for the defending champions to lock horns against India in what is known to be West Indies' most successful format of the game. India never allowed the visitors to prosper and make inroads for themselves early in the innings. They stuck to their plans and asked batters to make things happen. This indeed worked for the Men in Blue as the Windies' batters were forced to commit mistakes.
They lost their three top-order batsmen inside the first six overs to put excessive pressure on the middle order. From there on it was all about rebuilding the innings which never happened as lack of experience was quite evident in their batting line up. As a result, they could not post a decent challenge against Indians in the middle overs and were eventually bowled out for a paltry score of 109 in their 20 overs.