WI vs IND 2022: Top 10 funny memes after Team India's clinical victory in the 1st T20I
Rohit Sharma-led Team India began the five-match T20I series against West Indies with a clinical 68-run victory at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, on July 29 (Friday).
Veteran batter Dinesh Karthik (41* in 19 balls) bagged the Player of the Match award for his spectacular finishing knock in the first innings.
In a steep chase of 191, Kyle Mayers (15 in six balls) started the innings off with a bang, courtesy of a couple of boundaries. After getting hit for ten runs off his first two balls, Arshdeep Singh dismissed Mayers to give his side the opening breakthrough.
West Indies then sprung a surprise by promoting Jason Holder up the order at number 3. However, Rohit Sharma outsmarted them by bringing in left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the next over as the two right-handers were at the crease. The ploy worked wonders as Jason Holder departed for a duck on the last ball of the over.
Shamarh Brooks (20) and Nicholas Pooran (18) tried to rebuild the innings but failed to convert their starts. Team India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (2/22) and Ravi Bishnoi (2/26) spun a web around the batters in the middle overs, triggering a middle-order collapse. The hosts never recovered after that and eventually crawled their way to 122/8 and lost the match by a margin of 68 runs.
Speaking at the post-match presentation after the first T20I, Nicholas Pooran reflected on his side's performance against Team India and said:
"Disappointed as a team. The crowd was absolutely amazing here and thank you for your support. First game of the series and we'll look to bounce back. (On the over-rate penalty) At 18 overs the score was 150. Our indiscipline paid the price and we should have been more consistent with our discipline."
He added:
"190 was always going to be challenging. We needed a good start and the batters who got starts couldn't carry on. By 10 overs we already lost 4 wickets and that cost us the game. (Could they have picked a second spinner?) The spinners did bowl well but if we could have restricted them to 170-180 we could have chased it."
Fans react to India's thumping win against West Indies
Cricket fans on social media enjoyed a high-scoring encounter between India and West Indies in Trinidad. They expressed their reactions through some hilarious memes on social media.
Here is a collection of the best memes related to the first T20I:
Batters runs ke piche, Ash wickets ke piche. 2-22 much fun. 🔥😎 https://t.co/Y8XvwwfVO0
#INDvsWIt20
Captain Rohit Sharma 🐐 #INDvsWIt20 https://t.co/R7Vi2439RH
Indian spinners in todays game #IndvsWI https://t.co/r7dhaXbCrh
Nice performance by Arshdeep. Way to go. #INDvsWI https://t.co/3guHmyWLuZ
The action now shifts to Basseterre in St Kitts and Nevis, where both sides will square off in the second T20I on Monday (August 1). What do you think should be the team combinations for that game? Sound off in the comments section.