India vs West Indies 4th T20I Highlights: Jaiswal, Gill help India cruise to series-levelling win

A bye off a wide delivery finished the job for India. A dominant, dominant win for them and they have now levelled the series 2-2. Jaiswal finishes unbeaten on 84 off 51, Varma at the other end on 7 off five. Jaiswal is making some very loud noises at the start of his career in all formats of the game. He was not selected in the ODI series, or else he may as well have got a century in that series as well. Shubman Gill had scored a half-century in the last ODI over the course of what has otherwise been a pretty ordinary tour for him but this innings was by far his best in this lean period. He gives a reminder of what he can do. Considering his best has mostly come in India and the World Cup this year is also going to be held in India, this innings will pretty much do away with any doubts over his credentials to be included in that squad.

Jaiswal flashes at the last ball of that over and beats shirt third to go to 83 off 48. He has Tilak Varma at the other end.

A wicket at last for West Indies, Gill edges behind off Romario Shepherd. The partnership ends on 165, which is the joint-highest opening stand of all time for India in T20Is.

Gill c Hope b Shepherd 77 (47), India 165/1 in 15.3 overs

Jaiswal on 79 off 47, Gill on 59 off 44. We are starting to enter record territories now. First of all, this is now India’s third highest opening partnership in T20Is

India need 28 to win from 36. Jaiswal is just unstoppable. McCoy goes full outside off, Jaiswal gets a thick edge past the keeper. Then he hammers the last ball over the bowler’s head for a six.

Jaiswal sends Smith flying off the last ball of that over. That is deposited past cow corner. He moves to 67 off 40, Gill on 63 off 39. India need 41 to win off 42 so chances of either of these batters scoring centuries getting slimmer with every boundary they hit.

Just no respite here for the West Indies. They had gone up after the fourth ball of the 13th from Smith and the umpire raised his finger. Gill reviewed immediately. There was no bat though but the ball is missing leg stump.

Gill flicks the first ball of the 13th bowled by Odean Smith over fine leg and sends the ball sailing over the boundary. He moves to 61 off 36, Jaiswal is on 61 off 38. What an innings these two young openers have played thus far.

Akeal Hosein had bowled a good spell before this and was looking to close it out but Jaiswal whips out the reverse sweep and sends the ball sailing to the boundary. India are 123/0, need 56 to win from 48. Jaiswal has moved to 61 off 38, Gill is on 55 off 35.

It has come in 33 balls. Powell had overstepped and this was a free hit delivery. Jaiswal shuffles all the way across, gets low and scoops it over backward square leg. That is a maiden T20I half century for Jaiswal. A lot of these West Indies players had played in the IPL this year and so they are more than aware just how dangerous Jaiswal can be in this format. 

His first T20I fifty, although technically this is the second time he has gone past that mark. But when he had done so for the first time in his career, ended up converting that into a century. It has come in 30 balls 

Gill on 47 off 31, Gill on 49 off 29. This is India’s first 100-run stand in the format since September 2022.

Fantastic placement there from Gill, length ball from Hosein, Gill jabs it between long on and deep midwicket.

Gill is on 30 off 17, Jaiswal on 33 off 19. Well India have turned around their opening partnership woes and then some here. The two young openers have got them off to a flier here.

Jaiswal hits the fifth ball of the fifth over through extra cover. Then he goes unconventional, moves across the stumpos for the next ball and scoops it over fine leg for four more. He has raced to 33 off 19, that debut innings was a false start after all.

After watching Jaiswal go bang-bang against the pacers, Gill decided to join the party as he smashed McCoy for a six over midwicket. Nine runs came off the over. 

India 37/0 in 4 overs

Jason Holder gets the same treatment that Obed McCoy got in the first over as Jaiswal smashed him for three boundaries – first carved behind square on the off side, second one driven through cover and the last one was drilled through extra cover as 12 runs came off it.

India 28/0 in 3 overs

India had started off with a left-arm spinner in Axar Patel. West Indies bring in Akeal for the second over and only six runs came off it. 

India 16/0 in 2 overs

Ohh…what a start! Short and wide from McCoy and Jaiswal steered it past square on off side for a boundary. And then ended the over with a boundary as well. Wide and half-volley from the pacer as the youngster smashed the slower one over mid-off for a boundary.

India 10/0 in 1 over

India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill make their way out to the middle with Obed McCoy set to kick off the proceedings for West Indies with the ball. 

“Thought we started well. We didn’t do ourselves justice in the middle but good job from Hettie. We could be 10-15 short but confident of defending this. The mindset was positive, Hettie came along and made things easier for me. Was waiting for my opportunity, always want to play all formats. We always think we have enough, time will tell.”

Odean Smith ends the innings with a six. India will have to break the record for the highest succesfull run chase on this ground if they are to level this series now. They conceded 57 runs in the last five overs.

Hetmyer can’t quite get the connection and Tilak takes a brilliant catch running in from long on. He dives forward and claims the catch, the umpires decide to send it upstairs. The third umpire deems that Varma had his fingers underneath the ball and so Hetmyer has to go. Arshdeep slowed it up significantly which deceived him.

Hetmyer c Tilak Varma b Arshdeep Singh 61 (39), West Indies 171/8 in 19.2 overs

Hetmyer clears his front leg and hits it with the wind to deep midwicket. Not the greatest of deliveries there from Arshdeep on a length on middle and leg.

Right this is already a good score and Hetmyer can make it much better. Arshdeep Singh bowling the last over.

A welcome return to form for Hetmyer here. He has played a patient knock here, playing the situation instead of swinging for the barns regardless of who is bowling. It has come in 35 balls. 

Hetmyer is soldiering on for the West Indies. Kuldeep tosses it up well outside off for the second ball of the 17th, Hetmyer charges down and sends the ball soaring over extra cover.

Mukesh gets a wicket, Holder slightly unlucky there. Full delivery from Mukesh, comes back into Holder. The ball takes an inside edge, hits his pad and then ricochets on to the stumps.

Holder b Mukesh Kumar 3 (4), West Indes 123/7 in 15.3 overs

Hetmyer on 28 off 24, Holder has scored two in two. Mukesh comes back for the 15th.

Shepherd goes big over Axar’s head off the first ball of the 15th. Then he falls off the very next ball, although there was the slight danger of a fielder colliding with the wicketkeeper there.

Shepherd c Samson b Patel 9 (6), West Indies 118/6

Mukesh Kumar was brought in for the 14th over and the batters take a single off very ball of that over.

Hope has hit it right down the throat of Axar Patel at long on and Chahal ends the partnership. Tossed up around middle and leg but spinning away a bit. Hope goes for the big one but can’t make good contact while moving down the ground.

Hope c Patel b Chahal 45 (29), West Indies 106/5 in 12.5 overs

West Indies are 101/4 in 11.4 overs. They are going at a very good click here. Hetmyer on 22 off 17, Hope on 42 off 21. This partnership is now worth 44 in 28 balls, easily West Indies’ highest of the match.

Length delivery from Pandya to follow up the first, Hetmyer opens the face of the bat and cuts it behind point.

Hardik Pandya brings himself on for the 12th over and Hetmyer smashes him over his own head first ball. Something for the Indian captain to think about.

Hope is looking absolutely dangerous on 37 off 21, Hetmyer is on five off 10. He had been head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates in the ODI series but this is his first T20I since February last year. He has a point to prove here and so far, he has done much more than a good job.

First over of the 10th, Hope steps out to Chahal and lofts the ball over the umpire. Then the next ball is sent soaring over long-off.

The run rate has grinded down to a crawl with just 10 runs being scored in the last three overs. Hope is still out there and at the other end is the out of sorts Shimron Hetmyer. Hope has scored 25 off 17.

Two of the most effective batters thus far in the series for the West Indies have both fallen in the same over. He had almost edged the previous delivery. This time the googly gets him. Powell tries to work it leg side but it spins away from him, leading edge and the ball flies to Gill at slip.

Powell c Shubman Gill b Kuldeep Yadav 1 (3), West Indies 57/4 in 6.5 overs

Kuldeep comes in after the end of the powerplay and has taken possibly the biggest wicket of the match with his very first ball. Pooran takes him on, tries to go down the ground but ends up putting it down long-on’s throat.

Pooran c Yadav b Kuldeep Yadav 1 (3), West Indies 55/3 in 6.1 overs

Arshdeep Singh again who gets the wicket for India.

King c Kuldeep b Arshdeep, West Indies 54/2 in 5.4 overs

Hope moves to 19 off 121, King on 12 off 12. The West Indies ODI captain is looking good today. Hits the last ball from that Axar Patel over over mid-on.

Brandon King on 11 off 9, Shai Hope, who is in at No.3 for West Indies today instead of Johnson Charles, has scored a run a ball 8.

Chahal replacing Axar in the fourth over, tosses up the second, King comes down the track and hits it over the bowler’s head. Glorious shot.

Oh a terrible dismissal there for Mayers, he has been bounced out by Arshdeep. Short delivery, Mayers shapes up for an uppercut and ends up nicely dabbing it to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson. 

Mayers c Samson b Arshdeep Singh 17 (7), West Indies 19/1 in 1.4 overs

Mayers steps out to Axar and mows him over midwicket. The first boundary of the match is a six.

Axar Patel is bowling the first over, Kyle Mayers facing up with Brandon King at the other end. Here we go then!

“When I took up this post I understood the assignment. It’s similar to when I was captain, where we were as a team. Now it’s about making sure I have the tools around me to shift that needle. Obviously missing out on the World Cup is a disappointment. With T20s, it’s much better because we have experienced and seasoned guys. The importance of winning, especially against India, coming in after the last couple of months we had, I think this is very important. This group, moving forward, building confidence especially in this format, knowing that we are capable of beating better sides and understanding that is a massive, massive step for us.”

“We are gonna bat first, looks a very good surface, we want to put up some runs on the board and try to defend it. I think it is an opportunity for us to win a series against a big team like India and the boys are excited about it. Jason Holder is in, Shai Hope comes in for Johnson Charles, Odean Smith comes in for Roston Chase.”

“We would have batted first as well, I don’t think much will change. I think the boys turned up very well, they were excited and at the same time, they realized that they have to show some more hunger as well. Everyone chipped in, the bowlers did the job and then Tilak and Surya came in and closed the game with the bat. Yeah, same team. Our spinners have that kind of wicket-taking knack, they are aggressive with their intent as well, which I like. For us, we keep things simple, and we don’t let the intensity drop.”

Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar

West Indies win the toss and choose to bat. Pandya says India would have batted first as well. 

“Coming to the ground dimensions, behind me, it is a 65 metres hit, the opposite is 67 metres, and down the ground is 70 metres. The pitch looks like an absolute beauty, there isn’t any grass on the surface but it has a nice sheen to it. The average score on this ground is 165. We are in for a high-scoring game,” says Samuel Badree in his pitch report.

There are chances of rains dampening the afternoon in Lauderhill. It is unclear as of yet as to how much of a hindrance that will be, if at all, to having a full match.

Out of the nine T20I series that the India have played against the West Indies, the latter have won just twice. Both of those victories happened to be in series in which only one match could be played. The first was a two-match series in Lauderhill in which one was washed out and the other was won the Windies. The second was a one-off T20 match in Kingston, Jamaica in which West Indies won by 9 wickets despite having to chase a target of 191. It was thanks to an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls by Evil Lewis.

Suryakumar Yadav will certainly go down in history as one of the greatest T20 batters India has ever produced. He is also perhaps the first big example of just his different ODI and T20 formats have become. SKY himself has admitted that his ODI numbers are not good at all but how India will be hoping and wishing he finds himself, especially after seeing what he did to the West Indies attack in the 3rd T20I.

India’s bowling coach was all praise for Mukesh Kumar, who has made his debut in all three formats in this tour. “Very happy with the way he has progressed; the thought process, the discussion we had with him and his approach towards the game is fabulous. You need someone like him to come here on a tour and play against tough opponents on a different wicket which is never easy. But the way he has gone about it and the character he has shown (makes us) extremely happy. Going forward, since we know he is capable of playing all three formats, we need to be smart with his workload management. He has played a lot of domestic cricket and got quality skills out there,” Mhambrey said on Friday.

In the six T20Is that India and West Indies have played against each other in Lauderhill, the latter have won just once.

Tilak has only made his T20I debut and he has played only three matches thus far but there are some who feel that he has shown enough to be considered a candidate for that contentious No.4 spot. In the three matches he has played thus far, Tilak has scored 139 runs at an average of 69.50 and strike rate of 139.00.

India’s opening partnership scores over the course of this series have read 5, 16 and 6. The first two scores led to Ishan Kishan being replaced by the highly rated Yashasvi Jaiswal but the latter made a false start to his T20I career in the third match. 

Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy, Oshane Thomas, Odean Smith, Shai Hope, Jason Holder

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Umran Malik, Ishan Kishan, Avesh Khan

The series started off in the Caribbean islands, took a brief stop in the South American nation of Guyana and now moves to the United States. All along, India have pretty much been caught out by their own weaknesses in batting depth and the West Indies’ quality. The danger of a first series loss since 2016, and a first ever series loss in a bilateral T20I series in which more than one match has been played remains and India will hope that their batting lineup can hold up strong as it did in the third T20I, instead of how it turned out in the second and first.