Shreyas Iyer led from the front with a blistering maiden T20I hundred, guiding India to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over the West Indies in the series opener at Lucknow. The captain’s unbeaten 100 off just 42 deliveries made light work of a 172-run target, taking the hosts over the line with 32 balls to spare and extending their winning streak in the format to 10 matches.
Iyer-Kishan Masterclass Decimates Chase
Chasing 172, India encountered early turbulence after Abhishek Sharma’s quickfire 21 off 10 balls ended at the hands of Roston Chase. When Akeal Hosein removed Sanju Samson shortly after, the hosts were reduced to 35/2 in the fourth over.
Unfazed by the twin setbacks, Iyer joined forces with Ishan Kishan to mount an authoritative counter-attack. The pair rebuilt steadily before shifting gears, consistently maintaining a scoring rate near 10 runs per over. Iyer targeted Romario Shepherd in the ninth over, taking 19 runs off it, and brought up his half-century in 28 balls.
A 24-run onslaught in the 14th over took him into the nineties, before he sealed his hundred in style by launching Chase over long-on. It marked the fourth-highest individual score by an Indian captain in men’s T20Is.
Reflecting on his match-winning knock, Player of the Match and India captain Shreyas Iyer said:
“After the exhausting travel, didn’t realise where I was. Everyday I need to wake up like this! Bowling first helped us a lot. We just didn’t look at jetlag as an excuse… It was important to stick to the process. Was thinking about my first century and dreams do come true. Winning tastes different. If it is your day, win the match for the team. If we continue with the same mindset we will be one of the most destructive teams in T20.”
Partner Ishan Kishan noted his approach in playing second fiddle:
“[Iyer] was in very good touch. Felt better to keep him on strike. My job was easy to get off strike and let him play as many balls as he can… Wanted him to keep the momentum going.”
Spinners Stifle West Indies After Bright Start
Earlier, West Indies opted to attack after being put in to bat. Shai Hope raced to a half-century alongside Sherfane Rutherford (56 off 36) in a 63-run stand. However, Axar Patel’s double-wicket maiden inside the Powerplay and debutant Naman Dhir’s three-wicket haul derailed the visitors, bowling them out for 171 on the first ball of the 20th over.
West Indies captain Shai Hope admitted his side fell short:
“We didn’t get enough runs in the back end. Were too chaotic in batting. You’ve got to put runs on the board and defend. We didn’t have enough against India. Setting a target was more difficult. So many things in hindsight.”
India carry a 1-0 lead heading into the second T20I in Ranchi on 9 October.
