India thrashed West Indies by 68 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the T20I series.
West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran expressed his disappointment after suffering a 68-run thrashing at the hands of India in the first T20I in Trinidad on Friday (July 29).
After losing the toss, Team India were put into bat first. They got off to a flying start thanks to a fiery inning from Suryakumar Yadav (24 off 16 balls) at the top of the order. Skipper Rohit Sharma too batted splendidly, slamming his half-century (64 off 44 balls) and becoming the highest run-scorer in the process in T20Is, eclipsing Martin Guptill.
But once again, the difference between the two teams was Dinesh Karthik’s batting in the slog overs. The veteran batter smashed 41* off just 19 balls and propelled the team’s total to 190/6.
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In reply, the home team was restricted to just 122/8 in 20 overs, courtesy of a spirited performance by the Indian bowlers.
After the game, Pooran noted that although the loss hurt his troops, they will come back stronger in the five-match series.
“Disappointed as a team. The crowd here has been absolutely amazing and we have disappointed them. The players have been feeling very hurt but this is the first game of the T20 series and we will look to bounce back," he said at the post-match presentation.
As a result of falling behind the over-rate in the final two overs of the match, West Indies were forced to field five players inside the 30-yard circle. The visitors enjoyed themselves immensely in those 2 overs, scoring 40 runs in them.
Pooran continued by saying that losing 4 wickets in the first 10 overs cost his team the game.
“Yes, it was. In 18 overs, it was 150, we were indisciplined and we paid the price and the guys know that. 190 was always going to be challenging. We got a good start but the batters did not carry on. We lost wickets every time we had some momentum and that cost us. We had already lost four wickets in the first ten overs and that cost us the game,” he said.
For his explosive knock, Dinesh Karthik was adjudged Player-of-the-Match. The second T20I will be played on Monday (August 01) at Warner Park.
(INDIA TODAY INPUTS)