India vs West Indies: Top 5 most memorable T20Is played in India | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: West Indies are two-time T20 World Cup champions – the most successful team in T20 World Cup history – the only team to win the title twice (in 2012 and 2016).
Going by their records and their exploits in different T20 leagues around the world, it can be said that the modern day Windies come up with their best performances in the shortest format.
Coming off a thrilling 3-2 T20I series win against England at home, the Windies’ confidence would be sky-high taking on India in the 3 match T20I series starting Wednesday.
The Kieron Pollard-led squad would be looking to set the record straight against India. Out of the 7 T20Is played between India and West Indies on Indian soil, the men from the Caribbean have won just 2 matches and lost 5 games.
Here we look at the five most memorable T20Is played between India and West Indies on Indian soil:
2016 – Mumbai, World T20 2nd semi-final: West Indies won by 7 wickets

Home team India were the favourites to win the title – their second under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, and when they reached the semi-finals it seemed like a billion dreams might just come true, until they ran into the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 31, 2016.
Daren Sammy won the toss and asked India to bat first. Local lads Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane put up a 62-run opening stand with Rohit hitting 3 sixes and 3 fours in his 31-ball 43-run knock, while Rahane scored a 35-ball 40.
But it was a magnificent unbeaten 89-run knock from Virat Kohli that took India to a formidable 192/2. Kohli, who was going through a purple patch with the bat at that time, slammed a six and 11 fours in his unbeaten knock that came off just 47 deliveries.

When India dismissed danger-men Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels early, it looked like they were firmly on the path to victory. But that was not to be.
Windies opener Johnson Charles and No. 4 batsman Lendl Simmons put up a 97-run stand for the third wicket. Charles hit 2 sixes and 7 fours in his 36-ball 52-run knock.
Simmons then added an unbeaten stand of 80 runs with Andre Russell who smashed 4 sixes and 4 fours in his 43-run knock off just 20 balls. Simmons remained not out on 82 with his match-winning knock studded with 5 sixes and 7 fours off just 51 deliveries.
It boiled down to Kohli bowling the last over and Windies needing 8 runs to win. Russell hit the third delivery of the over for a four and the next delivery for a six to take the West Indies into the World T20 final, with two balls to spare.
2018 – Lucknow, 2nd T20I: India won by 71 runs

A match in which India completely outplayed the West Indies, thanks to a magnificent hundred by Rohit Sharma on November 6, 2018. It was the return of international cricket to Lucknow with India already leading the 3-match series 1-0.
Put into bat by Carlos Brathwaite, Rohit took the Windies bowlers to the cleaners plundering 7 sixes and 8 fours in his unbeaten 111 off just 61 balls. Rohit put on a 123-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan, who hit a 41-ball 43.
Rohit’s fourth T20I century powered India to 195/2, a total the Windies never looked comfortable chasing as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Darren Bravo top scored for the Windies with 23, as they huffed and puffed to 124/9 in their 20 overs. India won the match comfortably by 71 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
2018 – Chennai, 3rd T20I: India won by 6 wickets

A match that went right down to the wire. West Indies tried their best to prevent India from registering a clean sweep, but faltered off the last ball of the match on November 11, 2018.
Batting first, Windies scored 181/3 riding on Darren Bravo’s unbeaten 43 and Nicholas Pooran’s unbeaten 53.
India lost Rohit Sharma early but Shikhar Dhawan led the run chase with a fine 92-run knock and was ably assisted by Rishabh Pant (58) as the two left-handers added 130 runs for the third wicket.
Pant fell in the penultimate over and Fabian Allen bowled the last over to try and defend five runs. Dhawan fell off the penultimate delivery, having hit 2 sixes and 10 fours in his brilliant knock.
Manish Pandey tapped the last ball of the match towards mid-on and Dinesh Karthik scampered through for a single as India won by 6 wickets to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
2019 – Hyderabad, 1st T20I: India won by 6 wickets

Chase master and captain Virat Kohli fashioned this incredible victory for India on December 6, 2019. Put into bat, West Indies piled up 207/5 thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s 56, Evin Lewis’ 40 and captain Kieron Pollard’s 37.
Rohit Sharma fell for 8 in the fourth over but Kohli’s 100-run stand with KL Rahul (62) for the second wicket kept India in the hunt.
India lost Rishabh Pant (18) and Shreyas Iyer (4) but Kohli simply toyed with the Windies bowling to slam 6 fours and 6 sixes in his unbeaten 94-run knock that came off just 50 balls, with more than an over to spare.
Kohli’s 94* still remains his highest T20I score and one of his most memorable knocks.
2019 – Mumbai, 3rd T20I: India won by 67 runs

A run fest unfolded at the Wankhede on December 11, 2019, when three of India’s most stylish batsmen, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli unleashed their full repertoire of shots off their willows and hit as many as 16 sixes between them.
Put into bat by Kieron Pollard, India had a 135-run opening stand between Rohit and Rahul. Rohit’s 34-ball 71-run knock was studded with 5 sixes and 6 fours. Rahul hit 4 sixes and 9 fours to race to 91 off just 56 deliveries.
Rohit became just the third batsman after Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi to hit 400 sixes across the three international formats.
The icing on the cake was Kohli’s 70-run knock that came off just 29 balls and was studded with 7 sixes and 4 fours. Kohli took just 21 balls to reach his half-century as India piled up 240/3.
In reply, the Windies managed 173/8 despite fine knocks by Pollard (68) and Shimron Hetmyer (41), as India won the 3-match series 2-1.