In what was a sensational cricket match and a perfect advertisement for the T20 format, West Indies beat India by 1 run in the highest-scoring ever T20 match. KL Rahul and MS Dhoni were involved in the nailbiting finish, as Dwayne Bravo managed to produce one final trick in the match to get the better of them.
Johnson Charles and Ewin Lewis had given the West Indies batting innings an impetus that the Indians might not have expected, as balls flew to all parks of the American stadium, and it seemed like all sorts of records would be broken.
The most talked about issues from the match:
West Indies’ batting depth
The batting approach that the West Indies brought into the game is exemplary of how teams should go about in the T20 format, with the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground pitch providing ample assistance. Openers Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis realised the value of the wicket and went for their shots straightaway. It was cricket that was supposed to be visiting the USA, but the shots being played looked borrowed from very American game of baseball.
What allowed the openers to go for their shots straight away was how deep their team was batting. Lendl Simmons came in at No.7, Marlon Samuels came in after him at 8. The Caribbean team was packed with batsmen, an approach to the T20 format that sees them currently holding the title of world champions.
Such was the flexibility of the batting order that Andre Russell was promoted to No.3 as the highest ever T20 score beckoned when the first wicket fell in the 10th over. A record 21 sixes were hit in the innings. The final score of 245/6 was the 3rd highest team total in T20Is, a record which stood until the second innings.
Contrasting approaches to leadership and lines followed by bowlers
In the 9th over, Virat Kohli walked up to the bowler Ravindra Jadeja, explicitly advising him on the line and length to bowl to the batsmen, who were hitting everything out of the park. Jadeja followed up with a wide ball pitched up, evidently trying not to get hit for a six, providing a clue to what Kohli’s emphatic hand gestures had meant .
Captain MS Dhoni was quieter in his approach to dictating the game, frequently seen having words with his arms around the shoulder of his bowler, who was inevitably getting hammered.
Dhoni’s advice seemed to be to bowl more on the middle stump line – Mohammed Shami got a first breakthrough with a low full toss turned yorker on the wicket. Ashwin’s 3rd over cost only 4 runs, deliveries bowled on the stump line. In the last 5 overs, only 46 runs were conceded, cheap returns in the context of the game. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar too seemed to find more relief when they did not stray from the stump line in the last overs.
Evin Lewis’ second coming
The big news coming from the camps ahead of the match was the absence of Chris Gayle, forced out with a back injury. In his place, Evin Lewis was given his second T20I game, his first after a 7 ball duck against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup. Lewis did not allow Gayle’s absence to be felt though, becoming the fifth fastest T20I centurion in history, till KL Rahul matched shot for shot in the 2nd innings.
This was the fastest T20 century scored against India, beating Shane Watson’s 60-ball century by a considerable margin. Lewis also scored the highest T20 score for the West Indies against India, the previous best having been Chris Gayle’s 98.
Lewis smashed 5 sixes off the only over that Stuart Binny was bowled, missing out on reaching an elite list by just managing a single off the last ball.
KL Rahul brings chase alive
Both Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane lost their wicket trying to play shots which they would not have tried in such stages of the innings had the asking rate been more manageable. KL Rahul was the unlikely flagbearer of India’s chase though, coming up with one of the best T20 innings seen in recent times.
Playing classical strokes all through his innings, taking body blows twice, Rahul’s 51-ball 110* brought life into the game when all had seemed lost. He was the first batsman to manage to hit a six against the strong wind, reaching the third row in the stands with a superbly executed hoik over the bowler’s head. The crowd, who had been chanting ‘India jeetega’ for most of the match were so taken aback by Rahul’s counter attack, that shouts of ‘USA USA’ began to be heard.
The 51-ball 110* was also the 2nd fastest T20I century ever, and the fastest century scored by an Indian across all formats. Whatever the result of the game – Rahul has surely cemented his place in the limited overs squad with this special knock. India need not look any further for a regular No.4 in the shorter formats.
From not having an assured place in the RCB team in IPL 2016 till Mandeep Singh’s injury, Rahul can be called the most improved cricketer in the last 6 months. By the 15th over, a new chant had been discovered in the stands – ‘Raahul Raahul’ was all that could be heard.
Rahul was on the non-striker’s end on the final ball, but his place in history had been assured already. On the special occasion of India’s first match in the USA, Rahul had ensured that 2 centuries had been scored for the first time in a T20 international match.
A heartstopping finale
This match was fitting for the stage accorded to it. It was the highest scoring T20I match ever, the combined score of 489 runs beating the existing record by 22 runs. There was intense drama involved as well, till the very last ball.
On the first ball of the last over being bowled by Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels dropped a sitter after Dhoni’s bat had produced an edge. With 7 runs required off the last 5 balls and the set partnership of Rahul and Dhoni, an India victory seemed assured. However, Bravo successfully cut off all boundaries, taking it to the very last ball.
The drama only intensified on the last ball, Bravo taking a full three minutes between the final two balls. As Dhoni fidgeted on the crease with 2 to win off 1 ball, Bravo and Kieron Pollard came together for a whispering session, as new captain Carlos Brathwaite stood around.
As Bravo revealed in the post match presentation ceremony, he had planned not to bowl a slower ball because he assumed Dhoni from their shared past together that he would play safe and try to target mid wicket and take the match to a Super Over. Then at the very last moment, he had seen Dhoni shuffle around and had gone for the slower ball after all. Dhoni edged it again, and Marlon Samuels captured it this time.
West Indies had beaten India by 1 run in a historic match.
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