West Indies managed to pip India by four runs in the first T20I match at Brain Lara Cricket Academy on Thursday. Indian batters played well at the start to keep the chase under control. But Men in Blue failed to clinch a last-over thriller as they produced some mistakes mid-way and lost wickets at crucial moments. Debutant Tilak Varma impressed all with a brilliant cameo of 39 runs. Hardik Pandya-led side will eye to level the series when they take on the Windies in the second T20I on August 6, Sunday.

Batting first, Brandon King (28) and Kyle Mayers (1) gave a decent start to their side, adding 29 runs in 4 overs. In the 5th over, Yuzvendra Chahal gave a double blow to the hosts as he dismissed both the openers in the same over. Johnson Charles did not last long and walked back for just 3. But Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell stitched a 38-run partnership to rebuild the Windies’ innings.

Pandya gave the much-needed breakthrough by removing Pooran (41). Arshdeep Singh then dismissed both Powell (48) and Shimron Hetmyer (10) in the penultimate over. However, West Indies managed to post a defendable total of 149/6 in 20 overs.

India’s chase did not get off to a good start as Shubman Gill (3) and the in-form Ishan Kishan (6) lost their wickets inside the powerplay overs. But Suryakumar Yadav (21) and Varma kept the chase alive by adding 39 runs. However, the Windies’ bowlers removed the well-settled batters in a short period. While Jason Holder got the big fish Pandya (19) Sanju Samson’s (12) run out turned out to be the game-changing moment and India eventually lost the game.