India vs West Indies, 1st T20I: As it Happened

India vs West Indies, 1st T20I: As it Happened

India won the toss and opted to bowl first in the opening T20I of the three-match series against West Indies at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. 

Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten knock of 94 runs while opener KL Rahul well-supported him with a half-century as India beat West Indies by six wickets in the opening T20I of the three-match series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. 

Here are the highlights:

# India beat West Indies by 6 wickets in 1st T20I! India 209/4 (18.4 overs)

# Shivam Dube is the new batsman in.

# WICKET! Shreyas Iyer fell cheaply for four runs after West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard took a stunning returning catch on the last delivery of the 18th over. India 193/4 (18 overs)

# Shreyas Iyer is the new batsman in!

# WICKET!! Rishabh Pant (18) smashed the second delivery of the 17th over by Cottrell high in the air, only to see Jason Holder take a good catch at long-off. India 179/3 (16.3 overs)

# India 177/2 (16 overs)

# FIFTY!! Virat Kohli has brought up a half-century off 35 balls. He reached the mark by notching up a six on the first delivery of the 15th over. India 154/2 (15 overs)

# Rishabh Pant is the new batsman in!

# WICKET! Soon after bringing up his half-century, KL Rahul (62) was caught by Pollard at long off on the third delivery of the 14th over by Khary Pierre. India 139/2 (14 overs) 

# FIFTY!! KL Rahul (56) has brought up his T20I fifty off 37 balls. He reached the mark by slapping the fourth delivery of the 13th over towards mid off for a single. India 123/1 (13 overs)

# Kohli (37) and Rahul (48) added 21 runs in the last two overs, including two boundaries and a six by the Indian skipper. The Men in Blue have crossed the 100-run mark to reduce the gap to 98 runs. India 110/1 (12 overs)

# 13 runs off the last two overs. KL Rahul (46) is currently approaching a half-century while skipper Virat Kohli (20) is well-supporting hm from the other end. India still need 119 runs from just 60 balls. India 89/1 (10 overs)

# Virat Kohli (16) and KL Rahul (38) have stitched a little bit of partnership here after losing Rohit Sharma cheaply. India now need 132 runs from 12 overs remaining. India 76/1 (8 overs)

# 17 runs off the last two overs for India. Kohli (3) defended the fifth delivery of the fifth over softly into the offside to open his account with a quick single before Rahul (31) notched up a maximum on the very next delivery by Sheldon Cottrell. India 50/1 (6 overs)

# Virat Kohli is the new batsman in!

# WICKET! Khary Pierre gives a breakthrough to West Indies. Indian opener Rohit Sharma was caught by Shimron Hetmyer for eight at deep midwicket on the second delivery of the fourth over. India 33/1 (4 overs)

 # Just four runs off the very first over. Rohit Sharma (3) got off the mark by chopping the second delivery to short third man for a single while Rahul (1) flicked the fourth delivery off the toes to deep square leg to open his account with a single. India 4/0 (1 over)

# Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to open the batting for India. Sheldon Cottrell to open the attack for the West Indies. 

# Innings Break!

# West Indies set 208-run target for India!

# West Indies 207/5 (20 overs)

# Jason Holder and Denesh Ramdin are currently batting at the crease. 

# WICKET! Two wickets in an over for Chahal. The Indian bowled a full delivery on middle on the third delivery, forcing the batsman to come forward as the ball slid through the inside-half of the bat before clipping the leg stump. West Indies 178/5 (18 overs)

# WICKET! After bringing up his maiden half-century, Shimron Hetmyer (56) was caught by Indian opener Rohit Sharma at deep backward square on the first delivery of the 18th over. West Indies 172/4 (17.1 overs) 

# West Indies added 12 runs in the last two overs. Shimron Hetmyer (42) and Kieron Pollard (20) are currently batting at the crease as the Caribbean side approaches the 150-run mark. West Indies 144/3 (15 overs)

# 25 runs off the last two overs, including two boundaries and two sixes each from Shimron Hetmyer (41) and Kieron Pollard (13). West Indies have crossed the 130-run mark.West Indies 132/3 (13 overs)

# Kieron Pollard is the new batsman in for West Indies!

# WICKET! Birthday-boy Ravindra Jadeja finally gets the breakthrough by removing Brandon King (31). The Caribbean batsman missed the first delivery of the 11th over by Jadeja as Rishabh Pant collected the ball before swiftly whipped the bails off. West Indies 107/3 (11 overs)

# Yuzvendra Chahal comes into the attack!

# 16 runs off the last two overs. King (29) pulled the second delivery of the eight over towards extra cover for a boundary before he pulled the third delivery to long-on for four runs. West Indies 82/2 (8 overs)

# Ravindra Jadeja comes into the attack! 

# Shimron Hetmyer is the new batsman in!

# WICKET!! Evin Lewis fell for 40 after being caught leg before wicket on the fourth delivery of the fifth over by Washington Sundar. West Indies 66/2 (6 overs)

# The Caribbean batsmen added 25 runs in the last two overs. Lewis (24) pulled the first delivery of the fourth over with a strong bottom hand towards fine leg for a six before he fiercely cut the very next delivery through point for four runs. King (17) pulled the fifth delivery of the same over towards deep square leg for six. West Indies 46/1 (4 overs)

# Brandon King is the new batsman in for West Indies.

# WICKET!! Deepak Chahar gives an early breakthrough to India. Lendl Simmons (2) edged the second delivery of the second over to slip, only to see Rohit Sharma take a comfortable catch. West Indies 21/1 (2 overs)

# A quite expensive first over by Washington Sundar as he conceded 13 overs to West Indies. Lewis (11) got off the mark with four runs by smashing the second delivery to short fine leg before he notched up a maximum on the very next ball. Simmons (2), on the other hand, worked the first delivery through midwicket to open his account with a single. West Indies 13/0 (1 over)

# Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis have walked down the crease to open the batting for the West Indies. Washington Sundar to open the attack for India.

# The two sides have walked down the crease for their national anthems. 

# Lineups:

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

West Indies: Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jason Holder, Khary Pierre, Kesrick Williams, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr

# India win toss, elect to bowl first against West Indies. 

# The toss is all set to take place in a few minutes.

After dominating Bangladesh in Tests as well as the shortest format of the game, Virat Kohli-led India will look to continue their winning momentum when they head into the first T20I of the three-match series against West Indies on Friday in Hyderabad.

India were not at their absolute best in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma as they slumped to their first-ever defeat to their Asian neighbors in the format in the opening match in New Delhi.

However, the Men in Blue rebounded strongly to win the remaining two T20Is against Bangladesh and seal the series by 2-1. India also went on to win the subsequent two-match Test series, including the country's first-ever Pink Ball match.

India will be boosted by the return of their regular skipper Virat Kohli, who was rested for the Bangladesh T20Is before leading to side to Test series whitewash.

Notably, India had whitewashed West Indies in all three formats when they last visited the Caribbean Islands in August 2019.

West Indies, on the other hand, will look to play at their absolute best if they are to overcome India, an opponent against whom they have lost each of their last six T20Is.

The Kieron Pollard-led side is heading into the series against India on the back of a disappointing 1-2 defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in Lucknow.

The two squads are as follows:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.

West Indies: Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Khary Pierre, Denesh Ramdin, Sherfane Rutherford, Lendl Simmons, Hayden Walsh jr., Kesrick Williams