Review: India v West Indies 3rd T20I
Tue, Nov 13, '18
Windies failed in their quest to avoid a whitewash when they slumped to a 5-wicket defeat to India in Chennai on Sunday in the final T20I. The false openers finally gave Windies a platform on which to build, this, at the third time of asking. However, it seemed the lack of precedent at the M. A Chidambaram Stadium had Windies batsmen stuck in limbo as they struggled to construct a match-winning innings. This along with familiar demons—a lack of penetration in the middle overs—meant 181 was not enough to stop the Indians from levelling their head-to-head in T20Is versus the West Indies at 5-5.
The opening pair of Hope and Hetmyer saw through the power-play, putting on Windies’ best opening partnership in the series (51) to give the men in maroon a reasonable enough foundation to launch. There was a period, however, spanning the departure of Hope to the departure of Ramdin–where the visitors scored 43 runs in 41 deliveries. Therefore, despite the fact that Windies only lost three wickets and Pooran’s late onslaught, the Caribbean men failed to get any closer to 200.
It seems Windies were undone by the lack of available data on what a par score on this wicket would have been as there had only been one previous T20I hosted on the ground; New Zealand scored 167 and India fell short by a single run. As a result, the West Indies missed the plot when they slowed the pace of the innings; going from 8.5 within the first six overs, to a run a ball over the next seven. We were not to know this yet, therefore it was disappointing to see Oshane Thomas banging it in fast and short on this type of wicket. Although he offers genuine pace, he has built a reputation as an intelligent bowler who adjusts his line, length and speed with varying conditions. Even if he does not start on the money, he tends to adjust within the game. On the contrary, was Keemo Paul. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the vastly underrated Paul kept his place in the team, especially given that Obed McCoy was available. The Guyanese who brought the West Indies back into the game, with a fearless and well-constructed 19th over, is the Keemo we have come to expect.
It was good to see the stars of the CPL18 being selected for this tour. Although, the series ended in disappointment and frustration, we can only hope the players are not punished for the selector’s mistakes, as we know the Windies has a tendency to “chop and change”; after all, it was not the players who selected a team without a specialist opener.
Windies XI that began 2018: Walton (wk), Gayle, Fletcher, Hope, Hetmyer, Brathwaite, R. Powell, Nurse, Cottrell, Williams and Badree.
Windies’ last XI: Hope, Hetmyer, DM Bravo, Ramdin (wk), Pollard, Pooran, Brathwaite, Allen, Paul, Pierre and Thomas.
We look forward to seeing a majority of these players in Bangladesh later this year.
