Finance
India’s opening duo of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal thrashed West Indies by nine wickets in the 4th T20I at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium on Saturday, making a mockery of a 179-run chase.
After Shimron Hetmyer smashed a 39-ball 61 to lift West Indies to a challenging 178/8 in 20 overs, Gill and Jaiswal utterly dominated the chase to help India tie the series at 2-2, with Sunday’s game becoming a winner-takes-all decider.
Though Gill was dismissed for 77 off 47 balls, hitting three fours and five sixes, Jaiswal went on to remain unbeaten on 84 off 51 balls, smashing 11 fours and five sixes, , in just his 2nd T20I game as India pulled off the highest successful men’s T20I chase at the venue.
In their massive 165-run opening stand, Gill and Jaiswal blended power and timing to hit searing strokes and reach boundaries comfortably against a listless West Indies bowling line-up.
Gill and Jaiswal’s 165-run partnership is also India’s joint-highest opening wicket partnership in men’s T20Is, along with K.L. Rahul and Rohit Sharma, who had the same amount of runs in their opening stand against Sri Lanka in December 2017.
Jaiswal was on fire from the start, pouncing on Obed McCoy’s width for a boundary on the opening ball and then hammering beyond mid-off for another four to conclude the over. He was the target of the attack to Jason Holder in the third over by smacking three boundaries through the off-side.
Gill joined the fray, landing a six-punch short-arm jab on McCoy. Jaiswal kept dealing in fours, driving and scooping Romario Shepherd. Gill, on the other hand, hammered sixes down the ground and via a swivel-pull before finishing the power-play by driving Odean Smith past cover-point for four as India finished with 66 for no loss.
India’s run rate remained healthy as Gill and Jaiswal dealt with pacers and spinners, with the opening partnership reaching the century mark.
Gill achieved his fifty in 30 balls after posting three single-digit scores in the series, while Jaiswal reached his maiden half-century in T20Is on 33 balls by shuffling over and lapping over backward square leg for four.
Gill easily flipped Odean Smith for a six, while Jaiswal reverse-swept Akeal Hosein for a maximum. Jaiswal hit Smith for six over cow corner before getting a thick edge off McCoy for four and blasting another maximum over long-on.
Gill used the short-arm jab again to hit Shepherd for six before miscuing a flick to deep mid-wicket, ending his innings. But it was too late for West Indies, as Jaiswal sliced for four more. Tilak Varma hit a four-run flick before two wides guaranteed India won with three overs to spare.
Earlier, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh got three wickets and Kuldeep Yadav took two to hold West Indies below 180, despite Hetmyer’s and an excellent Shai Hope, who made a 29-ball 45 stood tall for the hosts.
Kyle Mayers smacked Axar Patel over long-on for six and finished the over with a four brushed past fine leg. Mayers fell after hitting an Arshdeep boundary after he was pressed for space by the left-arm pacer on the ramp and edged behind to the keeper.
Brandon King and Hope made good use of their feet, scoring 13 runs off Yuzvendra Chahal and 12 runs off Axar. However, in the penultimate over of Power-play, Arshdeep cut off King’s dangerous knock when the batsman nicked a wide delivery to the left of short fine leg.
Following the power play, Kuldeep struck in his first over, taking out Nicholas Pooran and Powell. While Pooran holed out to long-on, Powell’s attempt to flick through the on-side ended up in a leading edge flying to slip. Hope, playing in his first T20I game in a year and a half, continued to impress by dancing down the pitch to hit a four and six off Chahal.
From the other end, Hetmyer blasted Kuldeep for four before dragging and slicing Hardik Pandya for six and four, respectively. Hope’s stay was terminated by Chahal as the right-hander attempted to hoick but holed out to long-on. Axar returned to take out Shepherd, who attempted a slog-sweep, but Samson captured the top edge.
Jason Holder was castled as a reward for Mukesh Kumar’s precision. But Hetmyer persisted, gliding across the pitch to scoop Mukesh over short fine leg for six and then dancing down the pitch to crush Kuldeep for a flat six over extra cover, eventually reaching his fifty in 35 balls.
Hetmyer then swiped Mukesh for four and sent Arshdeep over mid-wicket for six, before Varma took a fantastic catch running forward at long-on ended his knock. Hosein and Smith hit a four and six off Arshdeep as 17 runs came off the final over.
Brief scores: West Indies 178/8 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 61, Shai Hope 45; Arshdeep Singh 3-38, Kuldeep Yadav 2-26) lost to India 179/1 in 17 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 84 not out, Shubman Gill 77; Romario Shepherd 1-35) by nine wickets
Source:IANS
