west Indies defeated India by four runs in the first T20I match on Thursday. After the match, West Indies player Jason Holder said that the 16th over was the turning point in the game.
Rovman Powell (48 off 32) played a captain’s knock to take West Indies to 149 for six after the hosts opted to bat at the Brian Lara Stadium.
With 37 needed off the last 30 balls and six wickets in hand, India self-destructed to end at 145 for nine in 20 overs. Jason Holder brought the West Indies back into the game by producing a maiden in the 16th over, when he found the stumps of India skipper Hardik Pandya (19) before Sanju Samson (12) got run out.
Tail-ender Arshdeep Singh (12) made the game more interesting with a couple of fours in the penultimate over, making use of an extra fielder in the circle due to the home team’s slow over rate.
Jason Holder’s double wicket maiden was the one that definitely turned it the West Indies’ way at the end of the day. This will be a big source of motivation for the West Indies, who are pretty much starting a new journey in this series devoid of the old stars like Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. For India, they have finally been dealt with a real blow in this tour.
In the post-match conference, West Indies all-rounder said Jason Holder said, “It (16th over) was the turning point based on the fact that the game was coming down very close. They had set batters and we had to stay in the game. The guys really stuck together, it was a total team effort. The conditions played in the favour of the bowlers. We got early wickets, which is really important.”
He added, “The amount of cricket I’ve been playing for the last three years, it’s a lot. I try to find some passages of break, get some time off, refresh and come back again. I think it (a break from the ODIs) was needed. I was happy that I stuck with my plans. I wanted to make them work hard for their runs, didn’t want to give any free runs.”
India will square off against West Indies in the second T20I on Sunday.