Halfway through the first innings. India are 125/4. Usually you expect the score to double from here but with wickets having fallen in a cluster and West Indies fighting back, that is far from a given.
Drinks Break! 115/1 becomes 124/4 for the Men in Blue. This has been a fantastic comeback from the tourists, engineered by Roston Chase. With the way Abhishek and Kishan were batting, it looked like India would easily cruise to 200 or far more than that, but those three quick wickets, including Abhishek's, have put the middle order under test. With two new batters at the crease, West Indies would look to squeeze in a few quiet overs to stall the momentum. India, on the other hand, are forced to reconstruct again with Naman Dhir in at number 6.
Shamar Springer to Abhishek Sharma, OUT! CAUGHT AND BOWLED! Shamar Springer gets the big fish. What a productive phase in the game this is turning out to be for West Indies. Springer drags his length back, and this is bowled at 122.2 kph. Sharma swings across for the pull but ends up slicing it high in the air beside the strip on the leg side. Springer moves forward on his follow-through and gobbles it up. He celebrates the wicket by signalling 24 with his fingers, though what it means is anyone's guess.
Shamar Springer to Tilak Varma, FOUR! Crunched! Springer takes pace off and keeps it near the tramline, on a length. Varma waits for the ball to arrive, reaches out and drills it to the left of the man at a deep extra cover for a boundary to get going.
Roston Chase to Shreyas Iyer, OUT! LBW! A confident shout and the finger is raised. That looks pretty straight, but Shreyas Iyer has taken the review. Chase slows it down nicely and is not afraid to toss it up, on off and middle. Iyer clears the front leg, puts his head down and has a heave across the line. The ball spins back in enough to go past the inside edge and catches Iyer on the crouched back leg. No bat involved and on Ball Tracking, the impact is umpire's call and the ball is hitting the middle stump. The on-field call is upheld. India keep the review but lose their captain. Two wickets in the over for Chase, just what the doctor ordered for Windies. India are now 3 down for 117.
Roston Chase to Ishan Kishan, OUT! STUMPED! Roston Chase answers right back. Chase anticipates that Ishan would give him the charge, so he pushes this through and pulls the length back, angling it towards the left-hander. Kishan dances down the track but is nowhere near the pitch of the ball. It skids through to go past the inside edge. Shai Hope moves to his right and gathers the ball cleanly before breaking the stumps in a flash. Kishan tries to plonk his back leg inside the crease but can't get back in quick enough. A much-needed breakthrough for the Men in Maroon as the 108-run stand has been broken.
Gudakesh Motie to Ishan Kishan, Fuller and quicker, outside off. Kishan goes hard on the cut but the ball is not short enough for the cut. It catches the bottom edge and bounces onto the keeper's helmet before dribbling towards short fine leg. A single taken. A decent comeback by Motie after being hit for a six earlier in the over.
Gudakesh Motie to Abhishek Sharma, Stays on the shorter side, outside off. Sharma has a swing at it but miscues it down to long on for a single. The 100-run stand comes up between these two batters.
Gudakesh Motie to Abhishek Sharma, SIX! Up, up and away! Motie tries to dart in a full ball, but ends up dishing out a full toss, on the pads. Abhishek does not miss out as he picks it up behind square leg for half a dozen.
Gudakesh Motie to Ishan Kishan, Down leg, not all that short, Kishan gets down on a knee and swivels to shovel it behind square leg. Toe-ends it beside the strip on the leg side. They cross. With this single, the 100 comes up for India in 7.2 overs.
Keemo Paul to Ishan Kishan, Run out chance! Really full, on off. Kishan digs it out wide of cover and hurries to the other end. Quentin Sampson is quick to get to the ball and has a shy at the bowling end but misses. A direct hit could have been interesting, as Ishan had to put in a desperate dive to get home.
Keemo Paul to Ishan Kishan, FOUR! Swatted away. Pace taken off, on a back of a length, near the tramline. Kishan reaches out and slams it like a tennis forehand. The umpire is in the firing line but he gets out of the way quickly as the ball races down the ground.
11/1 in the first two overs, followed by 76 in the next 4 to wrap up the Powerplay. Absolute carnage. Once again, the bowlers are under the pump on a beautiful batting wicket. As the field spreads, Keemo Paul (1-0-15-0) is back on. He replaces Shamar Springer.
Shamar Joseph to Ishan Kishan, FOUR! That has rocketed to the fence. Short and wide on off, begging to be hit. Kishan obliges as he frees his arms and spanks it past point for a boundary.
Shamar Springer to Abhishek Sharma, SIX! INTO THE CROWD! 21 runs from Springer's first over and India are marching on after a quiet start. A back-of-a-length delivery, angling outside off, Abhishek Sharma stands tall and sends it sailing into the crowd behind deep cover. This is ball striking of the highest order. And with that hit, Abhishek completes 2000 T20I runs. He becomes the fastest batter to get to this landmark (in terms of balls faced), bettering former Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav.
Shamar Springer to Abhishek Sharma, FOUR! Even better and that brings up the 50-run partnership between Abhishek and Kishan. Another full delivery, into the slot, outside off. Sharma clears the in-field by hammering it over covers for a boundary.
