Iyer’s blazing century sets up India victory

Fresh off leading India to an Asian Games gold medal win, captain Shreyas Iyer produced a statement innings to lead his side to victory in the opening T20I against West Indies. 

Chasing 172 in Lucknow, India slipped to 35/2 inside four overs before Iyer took control of the innings, combining with Ishan Kishan to rebuild the chase before shifting through the gears in spectacular fashion. 

His unbeaten 100 came off just 42 balls and took India home with eight wickets and 32 balls to spare, extending their winning run in T20Is to 10 matches.

After Iyer opted to field, West Indies openers Shai Hope and debutant Kamil Pooran came out with positive intent.

Hope, who had scored an unbeaten 162 in the third ODI in New Chandigarh, continued his impressive run of form, racing to 21 from 12 balls, including five boundaries. Four of those boundaries came in an expensive over from Mayank Yadav.

India hit back before the Powerplay ended. Arshdeep Singh provided the first breakthrough when Pooran chopped a delivery from outside off stump back onto his stumps, ending the debutant’s innings after 11 balls.

Axar Patel then made an immediate impact after being introduced for the final over of the Powerplay. Sanju Samson’s quick work behind the stumps caught Shimron Hetmyer short of his ground before Rovman Powell was bowled two deliveries later.

Axar finished the over with a double-wicket maiden as West Indies slipped to 41/3 at the end of the Powerplay.

Hope and Sherfane Rutherford steadied the innings through the middle overs, with the pair finding boundaries and clearing the ropes as West Indies reached 82/3 after 10 overs. They then accelerated, taking 18 runs from Axar’s next over and bringing up a 50-run partnership from just 30 balls.

Hope reached his half-century from 36 balls, but his attempt to go big again immediately afterwards ended with a catch for Axar on the boundary. His 56 had come in a 63-run stand with Rutherford, and his dismissal triggered another slide.

Roston Chase fell after finding the boundary in the 13th over, while Romario Shepherd was dismissed by Naman Dhir in the following over after hitting a six. Ishan Kishan then produced one of the fielding highlights of the innings, taking a stunning back-handed catch while sliding at deep midwicket to remove Matthew Forde.

Dhir continued his impressive debut by claiming Shamar Springer, giving him three wickets on his first T20I appearance.

West Indies were 135/8 with four overs remaining, but Rutherford and Akeal Hosein gave the innings a late lift. Hosein, playing his 100th T20I and becoming only the fourth West Indies player to reach the landmark, joined Rutherford for an 18-ball stand worth 36 runs.

Rutherford eventually fell for 56 from the final ball of the 19th over after striking four fours and two sixes. Axar completed the innings by taking the final wicket with the first ball of the last over, leaving West Indies on 171.

India’s chase began in typically aggressive fashion, with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson putting 15 runs on the board from the opening over. But West Indies quickly struck back through spin.

Roston Chase removed Abhishek for 21 from 10 balls, with Shimron Hetmyer completing the catch, before Akeal Hosein dismissed Samson in the following over. India were suddenly 35/2 after 3.3 overs.

That brought Iyer and Kishan together, and the pair quickly shifted the momentum back towards India. They found the boundaries regularly and kept the scoring rate close to 10 an over as the partnership grew.

Iyer was particularly aggressive against Romario Shepherd, taking 19 runs from the ninth over, including 16 from boundaries. Soon after the 10-over mark, he brought up his half-century from 28 balls, his 11th in the format and first in 10 innings.

With the field increasingly stretched, Iyer continued to find ways through it. The 14th over brought another surge as he smashed three sixes and a four to collect 24 runs and move to 95.

Two balls into the 15th over, Iyer completed the moment that had been building. He launched Roston Chase over long-on to bring up his maiden T20I century from just 42 balls, which is also the fourth highest score by an Indian captain in Men’s T20Is. 

Iyer added a single from the next delivery as India reached 172/2 and sealed an eight-wicket victory.

The teams will now move to Ranchi for the second T20I on 9 October.

Series schedule 

6 October: First T20I, Lucknow

9 October: Second T20I, Ranchi

11 October: Third T20I, Indore

14 October: Fourth T20I, Hyderabad

17 October: Fifth T20I, Bengaluru