Iyer, Dhir star in India win

Lucknow: Skipper Shreyas Iyer led from the front with a maiden T20I century after all-rounder Naman Dhir made a dream debut with three wickets as India comfortably defeated West Indies by eight wickets in the first match here on Tuesday.

Dhir picked up three wickets with his off-spin to finish with impressive figures of 3/31, while Kuldeep Yadav took 2/33 as India, after opting to bowl, restricted West Indies to 171.

Iyer (102 not out) and Ishan Kishan (37 not out) then made short work of the chase, stitching together an unbeaten 137-run partnership for the third wicket to help India chase down the target in 14.4 overs.

Chasing the total, India didn’t have the best of starts as they lost both openers Abhishek Sharma (21) and Sanju Samson (11) inside four overs with the scoreboard reading 35.

Roston Chase picked up Abhishek in the third over, with Shimron Hetmyer taking a brilliant diving catch while running in from long-off. An over later, Sanju Samson departed, extending his lean patch since the Asian Games, as he sliced a short delivery back to Akeal Hosein, who took the catch off his own bowling. Thereafter, skipper Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan stabilised the innings with a 137-run partnership.

Iyer, in particular, looked ominous, smashing boundaries all around the ground and taking the initiative to guide the chase.

Brief scores

West Indies: 171 all out in 19.1 overs (Shai Hope 52, Sherfane Rutherford 56; Naman Dhir 3/31).lost to India: 172 for 2 in 14.4 overs (Shreyas Iyer 102 not out; Akeal Hosein 1/37) by 8 wickets.

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The Hans India