West Indies bow out of T20 World Cup after 5-wicket defeat to India 

India 199 for 5 (Samson 97*, Varma 27; Holder 2-38) beat West Indies 195 for 4 (Chase 40, Holder 37; Bumrah 2-36) by 5 wickets

The West Indies were eliminated from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup following a 5-wicket loss to India at Eden Gardens on Sunday. The Caribbean side overcame a slow start to set the hosts 196 for victory, before a monster innings from Sanju Samson set up an India win.

Samson was at the heart of everything India did in the chase. The opener’s 50-ball unbeaten 97 meant he featured in every partnership before taking 10 runs from the first two deliveries of the 20th over to secure a semi-final spot for the home team.

He and India were watchful to begin, before the right-hander targeted Akeal Hosein in the 3rd over. He hit two sixes and a four before Hosein responded with the wicket of Abhishek Sharma (10). Jason Holder then got rid of Ishan Kishan for a similar score, to leave India 53 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.

Samson shared in a 58-run partnership (from 35 balls) with skipper Suryakumar Yadav (18) for the 3rd wicket before putting on 42 runs (26 balls) with Tilak Varma (27) for the 4th. 

Although India needed another 56 from 32 balls when Holder (2/38) had Varma caught in the 15th, Hardik Pandya (17) and Shivam Dube (8*) provided enough support for Samson, who got them home at 199 for 5 with four balls to spare. 

With Akeal Hosein returning to the XI, West Indies had earlier swapped Brandon King for Roston Chase at the top of the order. Chase took the attack to India, scoring a 25-ball 40 in the new position, while captain Shai Hope needed 33 balls for his 32. The pair put on a modest 68 (53 balls) for the first wicket.

Chase and Shimron Hetmyer (27 from 12) upped the ante, scoring 34 runs in their 16 balls together before the latter controversially fell to Jasprit Bumrah in the 12th over to leave the West Indies 102 for 2. The on-field decision for caught behind was upheld on review despite there appearing to be a slight gap between bat and ball when a small spike appeared.

Hetmyer’s wicket would be the first of Bumrah’s double strike in the over, as the Indian master went on to undo Chase with a slower delivery two balls later. The West Indies scored just 26 runs between the 12th and 15th overs, losing three wickets in the period to be restricted to 125 for 4. 

Rovman Powell then shifted gears, hitting two maximums and a four as the West Indies took 24 runs off Arshdeep Singh’s 16th to put the innings back on track. Jason Holder then took 13 runs from Varun Chakravarthy in the next to help the Windies score 47 off the last four overs, including 26 from Bumrah’s last two, and finish on 195 for 4.

The result means the Caribbean side ends Group 1 in 3rd on 2 points, behind South Africa (6) and India (4), who advance to the last four.