India needed 248 to win last night in Hyderabad and finished on 223, bowled out in the 20th over. West Indies won by 24 runs.
On paper, that is a loss. In practice, it was a strange one, because India’s chase was good enough to make you believe it could happen. It just never got the one extra partnership it needed.
India won the toss and chose to bowl. Within five overs, that decision looked like it was going to cost them.
Hope sets the tone
Shai Hope opened the batting and was still there at the end, finishing on 102 not out from 50 balls with nine sixes. He did not slog his way there either. He kept the scoreboard moving with singles between the big hits, which is why the bowlers never got a moment to settle.
Everyone around him added something. Hetmyer smashed 33 off 12 balls, Powell chipped in 24, and Sherfane Rutherford finished unbeaten on 49 off 26. The last partnership alone was worth 91. West Indies ended on 247/3, with 16 sixes in the innings.
India’s bowling, and the wides
The scorecard shows 13 wides and a no-ball from India. Mayank Yadav and Arshdeep Singh each sent down six wides, and both went for 52 runs in their four overs. When you are already chasing a total that big, free extras sting even more.
The death overs hurt most. The 17th over went for 22 runs, and the final over leaked 19. Axar Patel and Prince Yadav held things together better, going for 45 and 36 respectively, but by then the damage was done.
The chase that almost was
Sanju Samson made it feel possible. He hit 56 off 23 balls with six fours and four sixes, and India reached 60 in just over four overs. Then Keemo Paul took Samson and Ishan Kishan in the same over, and the momentum stopped.
India lost Abhishek Sharma for 29 and Naman Dhir for a first-ball duck in two consecutive balls from Gudakesh Motie, who finished with 2 for 13. At that point the chase looked finished.
It was not. Tilak Varma (43 off 25) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 off 20) put on 70 in 32 balls and brought the equation back to something reasonable. Reddy’s four sixes, in particular, made the stadium loud again.
Then Keemo Paul returned for the 19th over and took three wickets in it, including Reddy, Prince Yadav and Axar Patel. He ended with 5 for 41, the best bowling figures of the night, and that was the end of India’s hopes.
India will want to fix their discipline with the ball before the next match. Fourteen extras (wides plus the no-ball) in a 247-run chase is a tough hole to dig out of.
It was a loss, but a loud and entertaining one. Samson’s start and the Tilak-Reddy partnership are good things to build on.
What did you think? Drop your take in the comments.
