IND vs WI, 1st T20I: Kohli, Rahul Fifties Guide India To 6-wicket Win

India also became the first team in history to chase down 200+ totals three times. It was also the highest total chased by India in T20Is

The West Indies batted fearlessly against a potent Indian bowling attack to set a 208-run target. However, all their efforts went in vain when home skipper Virat Kohli took the charge and sailed the Indian ship safely to the shore. The Indian captain may have missed his maiden T20I ton by 6 runs but handed over a six-wicket win to his team in the series opener. India also became the first team in history to chase down 200+ totals three times. This is also the 2nd highest T20I total chased in India, just below England’s chase of 230 against South Africa during 2016 T20I World Cup. Sheldon Cottrell's early spell helped put pressure on the Indians which resulted in Rohit Sharma (8) holing out to Shimron Hetmyer at deep midwicket off Khary Pierre. But K.L. Rahul was on song at the other end, hitting three fours in the second over. Kohli and Rahul (62 off 40 balls, 4x5, 6x4) ensured that India didn't lose another wicket although the former struggled to make things happen in the initial part of his innings. After the first 10 overs, however, Kohli started connecting and seemed to have reverted to his older, flamboyant self and it was more than just his bat that was doing the talking. He stared back at the bowlers whenever they did the same to him and even asked Pierre to go back to the start of his bowling run-up besides mimicking Kesrick Williams' trademark notebook celebration after hitting a six off him. His partnership with Rahul produced 100 runs for the second wicket and his stand with Rishabh Pant for the third wicket produced 48 runs, most of which were scored by the India captain. Pant fell to Cottrell in the 17th over and was replaced by Shreyas Iyer. The 18th over, bowled by Pollard himself, proved to be a pivotal one. Kohli managed to hit a six but his opposite number dismissed Iyer with a brilliant catch off the last ball of the over. In the 19th over bowled by Williams, Kohli hogged the strike and hit two sixes, the second of which was the one that took India over the line. Earlier, Shimron Hetmyer's 56 off 41 balls led the way for West Indies while Evin Lewis got 40 off 17 while captain Kieron Pollard and Jason Holder too used the long handle to good effect to help the visitors post an imposing total. India now lead the three-match series 1-0. The second match will be played in Thiruvananthapuram on December 8.