Kohli steers India to win in first T20 against WI with stellar display

Skipper Virat Kohli once again lived up to his reputation of chase master as he played another dominant knock to help India to an emphatic six-wicket win over West Indies in the first T20I at Hyderabad.

He scored an unbeaten 94 with a strike rate of over 188 as India chased down their highest total in a T20I game. Along with Kohli, KL Rahul played a masterful 62 in 40 balls as well, as the side chased down 208 with eight balls left.

Opening the innings in place of injured Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul scored his seventh T20I fifty, hitting five fours and four sixes to show why he is so highly rated in the format. Kohli, who was struggling to time the ball till then, broke the shackles once Rahul was dismissed and got his fifty in 35 balls.

 

The duo shared 100 runs for the second wicket and laid the platform for a steep chase. Kohli remained unbeaten just six runs short of a deserving hundred in a knock that had six fours and six sixes. He made 94* in 50 balls.

Rishabh Pant made 18 off nine balls but once again threw his wicket to make matters worse for himself.

Earlier, Shimron Hetmyer struck a quick half-century as West Indies produced a fiery batting display to post 207 for 5 on the board. The batter made 56 in 41 balls, adding 37 with Brandon King (31 off 23) and then 71 runs with skipper Kieron Pollard, who made 37 in 19 balls.

The Indians were dismal on the field, with plenty of dropped catches, which allowed the visitors to score above the 200-run mark.

The bowling was also below par, as Washington Sundar and Deepak Chahar started proceedings by leaking runs in the powerplay overs. However, Lendl Simmons was dismissed soon after, but the onslaught continued as King and Evin Lewis stitched together 51 runs to take Windies forwards.

Lewis pulled Chahar for two sixes in the fourth over and continued punishing Bhuvi with a six and a four off successive deliveries. He then sent Sundar for a four as well but was out the very next ball.

The next match will be played on Sunday at Thiruvananthapuram.

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