A late blitz from Suryakumar Yadav (65) and Venkatesh Iyer (35*), after a scratchy start from a new look top order, pushed India to 184/5 in against West Indies in the final T20I at Eden Gardens. Suryakumar and Iyer absolutely light up the evening at the Eden with some exquisite shots, putting on a big partnership of 91 off 37 deliveries.
Rohit Sharma announced four changes with Avesh Khan making his debut. Replacing Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Avesh and Shardul Thakur.
Asked to bat first again, India’s new openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan were keen on starting quickly, as they danced down the track looking to clear the WI fielders in the circle. However, 10 runs into the cause, Gaikwad, who came into the XI for the first time in the series, was dismissed by Jason Holder for 4 in the third over.
Rohit Sharma dropped one more spot down to 4 as Shreyas Iyer joined Kishan, and the duo tried to up the ante. Shreyas, newly appointed as KKR captain, attacked from the get-go as Kishan was having another scratchy day in the middle.
Shreyas smacked four boundaries, scoring 25 off 16 before Hayden Walsh had his number, with the score at 63. Three runs later, Kishan followed suit for 34 off 31 balls as Roston Chase knocked over the stumps, leaving Rohit Sharma and India in a spot of bother at 66/3 in the 10th over.
Suryakumar Yadav joined the skipper, who was in unfamiliar territory at number 4, and wasn’t able to get going. The duo put on 27 runs before Rohit was cleaned up by Dominic Drakes for 7 off 15 deliveries. Suryakumar meanwhile had cleared the ropes a couple of times and looked to be in the mood for a big knock. However, at 98/4 in 15 overs with Venkatesh Iyer joining Suryakumar, India had work to do.
The duo went through gears from the next over, making it worth 17 runs with Iyer scoring the bulk of it off Drakes. Iyer continued in the same fashion in the next over as Shepherd was smashed for 17, once again the left-hander hitting a boundary and six, as Suryakumar finished another 17-run over with a boundary. The visitors on their part were erratic with their lines and lengths too.
Holder’s over costed 10 as Iyer swivelled and smashed him into the stands over fine leg, before the 19th bowled by Drake saw Surya smash it over backward point to bring up India’s 150. Iyer and Surya were scoring at two-runs a ball by now with the stand doing some serious damage, scoring 21 runs in the 19th over, the biggest of the innings.
Suryakumar brought up his fifty with a six in the final over and then proceeded to smash two more before an attempted fourth in the over saw the innings end with his wicket. Suryakumar scored 65 off 31 while Iyer added 35 of 19, both together putting on a 91-run stand as India posted 184/5.
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