India vs West Indies: Holder, Powell help Windies win thriller in Tarouba, go 1-0 up in T20I series

Team India received a reality check in the T20I series opener against the West Indies in Tarouba on Thursday, suffering a four-run loss in a match that went down the wire.

Senior all-rounder Jason Holder led the way for the Windies with a haul of 2/19 from four overs, and was ably assisted by Obed McCoy (2/28) and Romario Shepherd (2/33) as the Windies restricted the Men in Blue to 145/8 after setting them 150 to win.

WI WIN! Sheppie holds his nerve to deliver a 4 run victory.#WIHome #RallywithWI #KuhlT20 pic.twitter.com/zM4haytD9u

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) August 3, 2023

This after skipper Rovman Powell (48) and his predecessor Nicholas Pooran (41) led the way with a couple of sparkling forties, helping the home team post 149/6 on the board on track that was a bit slower compared to the one used in the third ODI, in which the Men in Blue ended up amassing 351 runs on the board.

The Indians thus find themselves trailing the West Indians for the first time in their ongoing tour of the Caribbean and the United States after winning the two-Test series 1-0 and clinching the three-ODI series 2-1.

Tilak shines on debut

For the third time in the series, Mukesh Kumar was handed his maiden cap. The Bengal pacer had featured in second Test as well as in all three one-dayers, and made his T20I debut alongside Tilak Varma, who made his first international appearance in the process.

Read | Mukesh Kumar, Tilak Varma handed debuts in first T20I

Mukesh couldn’t quite recreate his heroics with the ball in the ODI series decider that also took place at Tarouba’s Brian Lara Stadium on Tuesday, going wicketless for 24 runs in three overs although he bowled relatively well in the death overs.