West Indies beat India by 1 run in the first T20 in Florida on Saturday night.
West Indies: 245 for 6 in 20 overs (Evin Lewis 100, Johnson Charles 79; Ravindra Jadeja 2/39)
India: 244 for 4 (Lokesh Rahul 110 not out, Rohit Sharma 62; Mahendra Singh Dhoni 43; Dwayne Bravo 2/37)
Even as India lost the first T20 to West Indies by one solitary run in Florida on Saturday night, the 40 overs of the match saw over a handful of records being broken. Here’s a look at a few:
1. Two Centurions
The first T20 International between India and West Indies saw Evin Lewis and KL Rahul score centuries for their respective sides. It was the first time in the history of T20 Internationals that two batsmen scored hundreds in one particular match.
To put things in perspective, there have been 562 T20 internationals played till date and this was the first time such a thing happened!
2. Record Run-Chase Attempt
West Indies posted 245/6 batting first, which was the third highest total in the history of T20 Internationals.
India almost went one better, but eventually fell runs short, finishing at 244/4, which became the fourth highest total in T20 internationals.
3. Collective Runs Scored
In fact, the match aggregate of 489 runs is the highest ever in T20 internationals.
4. Most T20 Sixes
The West Indies hit 21 sixes in their innings – which was the most hit by a team in a T20I innings. In return, the Indian batsmen struck a further 11 making it a total of 32 sixes in the match which is the highest ever recorded in a T20 International.
The previous record for most sixes hit in a T20I was 30, in the World T20 2014 match between Ireland and Netherlands.
5. Two Debut Tons
The stars of the match undoubtedly were Evin Lewis and KL Rahul, who scored their maiden T20 International centuries.
While Lewis became the second West Indian to score a T20I century after Chris Gayle (117 & 100*), Rahul became the third Indian batsman to score a century in T20Is after Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma.
6. Rahul Makes His Mark
Rahul got to his maiden T20I century in 46 balls, making it the joint second-fastest century in T20 Internationals.
Only Richard Levi had got to the three-figure mark quicker.
Interestingly, Rahul became the first batsman batting lower than number three to score a century in T20 Internationals. Previously, Ricky Ponting had got the closest to scoring a century batting at number four; he had made an unbeaten 98 in the first-ever T20 International in 2005.
Of the 21 T20 International centuries before Rahul’s ton, 17 hundreds were scored by openers and four others by batsmen batting at number three.
Evin Lewis’ effort became the second-fastest century by a West Indies batsmen. Chris Gayle had scored a century against England off 47 balls, while Lewis consumed 48 deliveries to post three figures.
7. A Close Shave
At the end of the high-scoring contest, the difference between the two sides was 1 run, West Indies narrowest win in T20 Internationals.
8. Bowlers Tormented
The match was a largely forgettable outing for the bowlers, and for Stuart Binny in particular, who conceded 32 runs in his solitary over.
Binny’s expensive one over spell was the second-most expensive over recorded in the history of T20Is.
9. Dhoni Surpasses Ponting
The first T20I against the West Indies in Florida though was a special match for the Indian captain MS Dhoni for he climbed to the top of a special list.
It was Dhoni’s 325th international match as captain, and he surpassed Ricky Ponting’s 324 matches to become international cricket’s most-experienced captain.
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