India 110 for 5 (Karthik 31*, Brathwaite 2-11, Thomas 2-21) beat West Indies 109 for 8 (Allen 27, Kuldeep 3-13) by five wickets
Kolkata: Dinesh Karthik kept his calm and composure as he remained unbeaten on 31 to guide India to a nervy five-wicket win over the West Indies despite early hiccups in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
High-flying India overpowered West Indies in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
The Indian bowlers put in a commendable shift with Kuldeep Yadav leading the charge (3/13).
West Indies could manage a paltry score of 109/8.
In reply, India's top four batsmen got out cheaply, but Dinesh Karthik helped the team cross the line.
Oshane Thomas dismissed Shikhar Dhawan for the third time in this tour. Thomas had got him out twice in the ODIs and on Sunday castled him for just 3 runs. This was the debut T20I of Oshane Thomas and he removed both Sharma and Dhawan.
India bowled their heart out with youngster Khaleel Ahmed (1/16) impressing in his debut T20I. Another debutant Krunal Pandya (1/15) complimented the side beautifully.
India got the early breakthroughs and never allowed West Indies to make a comeback in Kolkata. Kuldeep was sensational through out and choked the West Indian batting.
Fabian Allen (27) was the lone batsman to get some runs.
This is the lowest total (109/8) by West Indies against India in the history of T20Is. Their previous lowest total was 129/7 at Mirpur in 2014.
Today was the sixth time in T20Is that West Indies could manage just a solitary six in their innings. Kieron Pollard hit the only maximum.
Against Australia in Hobart in 2010, WI didn't hit even a single six.
After star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, his sibling Krunal was also handed the India cap. The duo is the second pair of siblings to appear in T20Is for India.
Irfan and Yusuf Pathan were the first set of brothers to represent India in T20Is.
Interestingly, both Pandya and Pathan siblings are from Baroda.
A total of five players made their debut tonight.
Kuldeep Yadav, with his three wickets tonight, got to 100 Twenty20 wickets overall. He achieved the feat in just 75 matches.
Kuldeep is the joint-fastest to 100 T20 wickets among Indian players.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra had also taken 75 matches to pick 100 T20 wickets.
Kuldeep raced to 15 wickets in 2018 in just 5 T20Is.