That was a Kohli masterclass in run chase, wasn't it? How many times has he done that in the past: walking in with his team struggling, he has first taken the pressure off the team and then transferred it right back on the opposition. He struggled to time the ball at the start, but boy, once he got into the groove, there was no stopping him. He was ably supported by KL Rahul, who was just as good if not better. The result? India goes 1-0 up with a crushing win.
That would be all from our side. Good night.
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Cottrell to bowl his final over. Kohli begins with a couple. Kohli takes India past 200 with a six. Kohli finishes it off in style with a six. He remains unbeaten on 94 and India have chased down the total with more than an over to spare. What an incredible run chase this has been.
193/4 after 18 Overs: Kieron Pollard bowling his first over. SUBLIME! Kohli flicks it away for six. What a strike. India on the home stretch and it's their captain who has been absolutely brilliant tonight. GONE ! Pollard plucks a brilliant catch to get rid of Iyer.
Sheldon Cottrell [3.0-0-19-0] is back into the attack. GONE! Pant holes out for 18 off 9 balls. Shreyas Iyer joins Kohli. Five off the over and a wicket. Excellent from the left-armer. India needs 26 runs in 18 balls.
177/2 after 16 Overs : Kohli is coming into his own. That's usually bad news for the opposition, and it's no different here. Two breathtaking boundaries take him to 67 and India firm favourites now. Kesrick Williams and Kohli are engaged in an interesting duel here. Pant, now, lifts one over long-off for six. He finishes with a brace. 20 off that over... oh hang on. A no-ball has been called and Williams has to bowl the final ball again. Pant collects two, again. 23 off the over.
154/2 after 15 Overs: SIX! Kohli gets to his 23rd T20I fifty with a majestic shot for six. He follows it up with a four. Holder getting hammered. Kohli gets a brace off the next ball, but it's been called a no-ball. Kohli gets a single off his free hit. 15 off that over. India needs 54 off 30 balls.
139/2 after 14 Overs: Khary Pierre [3.0-0-28-1] is back into the attack and has been deposited over deep mid-wicket for a 101 metre six by KL. But he holes out off the very next ball! Rahul falls for a 40-ball 62. Rishabh Pant joins Kohli. Pant gets off the mark with a six.
123/1 after 13 Overs: Kesrick Williams [1.0-0-8-0] is back into the attack. Both batsmen dealing in singles this over: running them hard, as the required run rate goes past 12. Anil Chaudhary, meanwhile, becomes the first TV umpire in India to call a front foot no-ball. KL Rahul meanwhile gets to his fifty with a single. The chase notwithstanding, both batsmen have struggled to time the ball in the last few overs. Rahul ends the over with a six. 13 off the over. India needs 85 runs in 42 balls
110/1 after 12 Overs: Holder returns into the attack. Kohli's not showing it on his face yet but you can sense him getting a little edgy here as the Windies run through the overs. Well, he did get one away for six, not quite in control of the shot but he got the runs all right. He followed it up with a boundary off a full toss. 14 off the over. The partnership between the two is 80 off 52 balls.
96/1 after 11 Overs: Hayden Walsh is back into the attack. Walsh almost had his man, but Kohli gets his four runs albeit off a bottom edge. Just seven from the over. The equation has started to tilt in Windies' favour, slightly.
89/1 after 10 Overs: Kesrick Williams, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack and is taken to cleaners by Rahul, who is nearing his fifty. He has been brilliant so far, has Rahul. Good comeback from Williams as he goes for four off the next four. India needs 119 off 60 balls.
81/1 after 9 Overs: Holder is back into the attack. So far as India has wickets in hand, it will fancy its chances. That said, they'll be cautious of leaving it too late. Just five runs off Holder's second over.
76/1 after 8 Overs : Pierre from the other end. So the Windies opting from spin from both ends. Very crucial phase in the run chase and India's getting some help from Pierre, who concedes five wides. Kohli then punished him further with a crisply timed hit for four. 14 runs coming off the over.
62/1 after 7 Overs: Hayden Walsh, right-arm leg break, comes into the attack. Kohli greets him with a boundary to long-off. KL wrapped up the over with a late cut for four. 12 off the over.
50/1 after 6 Overs: KL Rahul brings up 1000 runs in T20I with a six. Beautifully executed slog-sweep that from KL. Pierre goes for nine in the over. India crosses fifty at the end of the Powerplay.
41/1 after 5 Overs: After 2 overs for 11, Cottrell has been given a third. He's mixing it up, is the left-armer. The odd slower ball...the first delivery was clocked at 112 kmph and the second at 139. His ability to bring the ball back into the right-hander means Kohli will be on his toes. Meanwhile, Rahul has swivelled a pull for six. Eight from the over.
33/1, 4 Overs: WICKET! Khary Pierre, Left arm orthodox, comes into the attack and strikes and straightaway. Rohit Sharma holes out and that's a big blow! Out comes the "chase master", says my colleague Suhith. India needs Kohli to come good tonight. Five runs and a wicket. End of a successful over.
28/0, 3 Overs: Cottrell keeping the Indian openers quiet. Rohit copped a blow on his finger, miscuing an attempted pull. But the left-arm pacer concedes four byes before going for yet another boundary off the final ball. Rohit getting a move on. 11 runs from that over.
17/0, 2 Overs: KL Rahul began the over with a delectable cut shot off Jason Holder's first ball. He had a stroke of fortune too when an inside edge ran away for four. He followed that up with yet another hit to the fence... Holder erring in line and length and paying the price. 13 from the over.
4/0 , 1 Over: A rather sedate start from the Indian openers. Rohit has new company in KL, who was in brilliant form in the just concluded Syed Mushtaq. India would hope the duo comes good tonight. A good Powerplay score is pivotal to this run chase.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are all set to begin the run chase. This promises to be a fun chase. Cottrell will open the attack.
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Hetmyer smiles and shrugs and says the total is a "perfect score." It could have been some more, but it was non-stop hitting. A forgettable outing for Deepak Chahar and Washington Sundar; the two of them gave away 90 runs in their seven overs. Chahar got hit for 56 runs.
The bowlers had set, powerful batsmen to contend with and a hard, flat wicket. But the fielding left much to be desired, as there were three dropped catches. And one good chance that wasn't grabbed by Sundar.
Hetmyer was the star, but Pollard (37, 19b), Brandon King (31, 23b), Ewin Lewis (40, 17b) and Jason Holder (24, 9b) played useful hands.
. 207/5, 20 overs: And another drop! This time it's the captain, Virat Kohli. Holder effects a powerful hit off Bhuvneshwar to long-off and Kohli gets a hand to it, but in his momentum, spills it. It's a four.
And Holder follows this up with a mighty six! He gets a full delivery and hits hard; this time, the ball goes over Kohli.
Holder and Ramdin scamper to get five runs off the final two deliveries - two twos, and a single. The ballooning West Indian total stops at 207 for 5.
. 190/5, 19 overs: With two new batsmen in the crease, Chahar gets some respite. But he bowls a ball in the slot, on the off-stump line, just a delivery Jason Holder was waiting to get hold of. Holder send it soaring to long-on for a six! It's the 14th of the innings.
. 178/5, 18 overs: Chahal gets the much-needed breakthrough! Hetmyer plays the slog-sweep and this time, Rohit makes no mistake. Hetmyer's carnage comes to an end.
And Chahal has one more! He gets the big fish, Pollard, who is foxed by his googly. He plays all round that delivery from the leg-spinner, and Pant does what is needed behind the stumps.
The veteran Denesh Ramdin comes out to bat, and gets off the mark with a boundary. He gets a full delivery outside off, and plays a drive.
. 172/3, 17 overs: Pollard on the rampage, and what's more, India drops two catches! Chahar's third over is a costly one, 17 runs coming from it.
Hetmyer first plays a drive to long-on and nearly departs. Sundar takes the catch, but in putting in the dive, loses control of the ball and it's stopped from getting to the boundary by Rohit Sharma.
Pollard, then, goes for the pull; it's a top edge and Rohit, at long-on, gets to the ball via his outstretched right hand and seeing he was heading beyond the rope, throws out the ball to the infield. A couple taken.
And then, then Pollard hits a full delivery straight to him and the ball is parried over to the boundary by his palms! It's a six.
And one more. Pollard pulls and this time, deposits the ball into the stands on the leg side.
. 155/3, 16 overs: Hetmyer attempts to turn a delivery directed at middle and leg stump fine. But he gets a top-edge and Sundar, at short fine-leg, slips and cannot get to the ball, which drops in front of him. Is it a misjudgment or a case of slipping? Replays show he spotted the ball and tried to go ahead but slipped. He's expressionless. It's sombre out there, for India.
And Hetmyer duly carries on to his fifty. He goes down on his knee, and hits out to long-off for another six!
. 144/3, 15 overs: Change of bowling, it's Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The seamer bowls wicket-to-wicket and the batsmen collect only three singles. No slog. A relief for India.
. 141/3, 14 overs: Chahal bowls full and straight to Kieron Pollard, and is gently handled for three deliveries. But off the fourth, the Windies captain decides to play the straight drive, a smooth hit that takes the ball to the second tier beyond mid-on. It's not a slog, nor a hit. It's a chip.
Two more singles from the over, and nine runs from it without much fuss. There's a wide in it, too.
. 132/3, 13 overs: Jadeja is played respectfully for the most part in his fourth over, but his fifth delivery is on middle-and-leg, and on a good length. Hetmyer gains leverage by sitting on his knee and launches a slog-sweep to the second tier! It's a mighty hit. Beautiful swing of the bat.
And to finish off, a drive goes through the hands of Virat Kohli at cover and runs away to the boundary. Twelve runs from the over.
. 120/3, 12 overs: Pollard wastes no time and tucks into the bowling straightaway. Off Shivam Dube, the seamer, he plays two pull shots to get a four and a six.
. 107/3, 11 overs: Jadeja gets the breakthrough! He foxes King. King comes down the track to launch a delivery to oblivion, but he cannot get to the pitch of the ball and it turns away from him. it's too late for the batsman as he's too far down and Pant does the rest. A sprightly innings from King, who is playing just the fourth T20I of his career, comes to an end. And it's a career-best, too: 31 (23b, 3x4, 1x6).
Hetmyer continues to attack. He plays the pull to get a boundary through long-on. It evades the diving K. L. Rahul in the boundary. Off the penultimate delivery of the over, he survives a caught-behind shout. He missed the cut, the India decides not to go for the review.
. 101/2, 10 overs: Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack. Hetmyer goes down on his knee to play a slog-sweep; it's executed perfectly, a six to cow corner. A brace, and two more singles from the over. The 100 is up for West Indies.
. 91/2, 9 overs: Hetmyer in the act now. He spots a short-ish delivery, and goes on to the back-foot to collect a six through deep midwicket. Even Jadeja has to suffer. But he makes it up in the rest of the over, giving away just three more runs. Just to take a stock of things: the run-rate is more than 10 an over.
. 82/2, 8 overs: Powerplay or no Powerplay, big hits continue. King goes down the track and despite not getting to the pitch of the ball, managed to slash the ball through extra-cover for a boundary. Then, he has a reprieve. He plays the pull and K. L. Rahul, at long-on, dives to complete the catch but cannot get to the ball, which is dipping on him, in time. A boundary the result despite his effort.
. 70/2, 7 overs: Ravindra Jadeja comes in to bowl, and bowls a quiet over. Just four runs coming from it as Shimron Hetmyer, the new batsman, gets accustomed to things.
. 66/2, 6 overs: Sundar's back into the attack, and the plundering continues as he flights the ball and lands it a fair way outside the left-hander's off-stump, to which Lewis plays an agricultural hoick and collects a six. He reached out to the pitch of the ball and deposited it beyond deep-extra cover. A similarly flighted, wayward delivery went unpunished next ball as Lewis played the cut straight to the point fielder.
But things can change quickly. He's out next ball! Lewis tries to play the sweep to another flighted delivery, this time directed to middle-and-leg-stump. The umpire raises his finger, and WI decides not to go for the review.
Lewis' short, exciting stay at the crease comes to an abrupt end. He's out off his 17th delivery, having scored 40.
. 57/1, 5 overs: Just when it seemed it would be a quiet over from Bhuvneshwar after the carnage, Lewis pounces on a length ball outside the off-stump and launches the ball into the stands beyond the deep-extra cover boundary. Lewis plays the flick off the next ball and collects a four. It's raining runs. The 50 is already up, in the fifth over. Lewis has scored the bulk of the runs so far - 34, off just 15 balls! It's 57 for 1.
. 46/1, 4 overs: Lewis unleashes the pull once again, for the innings' second six! It's not an altogether short delivery from Chahar but Lewis swivels on the back-foot and pulls well. He follows this up with a square cut for a four. He sees the width, and pounces on it.
And that's not the end of it. King doesn't want to miss out, and after getting to the striker's end following a single, plays a fierce pull off Chahar's delivery directed at the head/chest. It's another six. Nineteen runs from that over.
. 27/1, 3 overs: Bhuvneshwar takes over now. He will bowl the third over. Lewis takes a sharp single after driving Bhuvneshwar straight to mid-on; K. L. Rahul's throw wasn't accurate, but it certainly seemed risky. King slashes one square through the off-side and later plays half-pull to deep midwicket to collect two.
. 21/1, 2 overs: Deepak Chahar gets one to slightly shape away from the right-handed Lendl Simmons, who attempts the drive and gets an outside edge straight to the safe hands of Rohit Sharma at first slip! India has the breakthrough. Simmons goes for 2. Brandon King, the new batsman, slashes a good-length delivery through cover to pick up four. It's his first boundary. WI 21 for 1.
. 13/0, 1 over: Correction, it's the off-spinner Washington Sundar. That's an unusual start. Simmons tucks the first ball to leg to pick up a single. Sundar bowls back-to-back long hops and gets punished by Lewis, who collects a four through fine-leg, and then a six beyond deep square-leg. Two more singles and it's 13 for 0 after the first over.
. Deepak Chahar marks up his run-up. The hero of the final T20I against Bangladesh, he will likely start proceedings. Ewin Lewis and Lendl Simmons, the Windies openers, walk out to the middle.
. Live action begins in less than 10 minutes. A reminder of India's T20I record this year: seven wins and six losses. The latest loss was against Bangladesh at the Arun Jaitley Stadium last month.
. Kohli points out chasing has been his team's strength, and given the due factor, promptly chooses to bowl first . See ball, hit ball, has been the advice given to Rishabh Pant, no complications. Kieron Pollard says onlookers can expect his West Indies team to play some exciting cricket. The players missing out for the Windies will be: Sherfane Rutherford, Nicholas Pooran, Keemo Paul and Fabian Allen.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, K. L. Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk) , Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal.
West Indies: Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard (c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jason Holder, Khary Pierre, Kesrick Williams, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr.
. Right, so what's India's record here - T20I or no T20I? Seven wins and three losses, across formats. And no losses since November, 2009.
. A nice pitch to bat on, is the verdict from Sunil Gavaskar after he inspects the pitch.
. This will be the first T20I to be played on this ground and indeed, in the Hyderabad city. October, 2017, would have marked the first T20I to be played here, but that contest - between India and Australia - had to be abandoned due to wet outfield.
. Here's what Andre Russell told Sportstar a few days ago about Kieron Pollard and the West Indies team:
" I think we’re on the right track. Things are going to take time before we actually get back to where we want. We have a good leader in Pollard. Carlos [Brathwaite] was also a good leader but I think everyone thought that West Indies needed a change. We did make a change. It’s a very good change. Pollard is a strong guy where you have that leadership in him. I’ve seen him display that once he’s in the captaincy. We have to make sure that we do what we have to do and try and give him the support that he needs. "
. This will be the first T20 match between the two teams with Kieron Pollard as the Windies captain. His short stint has been a mixed bag so far, with a 3-0 win over Afghanistan in an ODI series and a 2-1 defeat in the following T2OI series. It's early days yet.
. India and the West Indies have faced each other in six T20 Internationals over the last 13 months. From Lauderhill to Lucknow, these fixtures have produced the same result every single time — an Indian win.
So the ordinary fan might be forgiven any lack of enthusiasm when the two teams meet again this month, for a three-match T20I series that begins at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Friday.
. Meanwhile, Kohli has thrown his weight behind struggling teammate Rishabh Pant. He insists that Pant needs to be given the space to perform| Kohli: ‘If Pant misses a chance, people can't shout MS is in the stadium’
. West Indies captain Kieron Pollard says the Indian team has been doing well, but the T20I series will also be an opportunity for his side to prove its mettle |We are here to play some good cricket, says Pollard
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the first T20I between India and the West Indies in Hyderabad.
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