GAME OVER! India win by six wickets
Kohli finished unbeaten on 94 off 50 balls - an innings laced with six fours and six sixes. © AFP
Virat Kohli has signed off the game with perhaps the best shot of the evening. A flat six over extra cover. He holds his pose, sees the ball sail over the stands and lets out his celebration. There's a bit of name thumping (on the back of his jersey) followed by a loud roar. He's been fired up today. West Indies players irked him, the umpiring did too at one point and he's managed to channel all that frustration into a match-winning knock. Hyderabad crowd can return home with the satisfaction of having witnessed a Kohli special.
Excellent over from Cottrell
He's got rid of Rishabh Pant with a leg cutter and kept Kohli and Shreyas Iyer down to ones and twos. Superb over under the circumstances. India still need 26 off the last three overs.
Fifty for Kohli
Exquisite shot over extra cover - for a six off Jason Holder - earns Kohli his half-century. And perhaps the turning point of an innings that has been full of miscued hits.
Rahul goes!
Is that the turnaround WI needed? Khary Pierre has provided a fantastic breakthrough. KL Rahul is fuming, he's nearly hit himself with his bat there, after having found Kieron Pollard at long off. Out walks Rishabh Pant.
KL-Kohli rebuild
Rahul has carried forward his form from domestic cricket to India colours. He's gone after the WI bowlers here while Kohli is giving him good company right now. He's not middling the ball but the dew is starting to set in and the ball is slipping off the hands off the bowlers. India have 123 for 1 in 13 overs.
Rohit holes out!
The opener is gone! He's not been able to middle the ball today, and an attempt to flick Kharry Pierre away has proved fatal. He's hit one straight to Hetmyer at deep square leg.
INNINGS BREAK: West Indies 207/5 in 20 overs
Shimron Hetmyer (56 off 41) and Evin Lewis (40 off 17) have powered West Indies to a massive total here. Exceptional batting from West Indies, who've not allowed a fall of wicket cause a ripple to their efforts here. India have not bowled very well today, going very short on occasions and conceding cheap boundaries. They've also been sloppy on the field. Big task for their batsmen ahead.
FIFTY for Hetmyer
You could call that an IPL audition? Hetmyer has absolutely pasted Indian bowlers in the second half of the innings. He's brought up his half-century here. Exceptional hitting.
100 and a dismissal!
West Indies reach 101 for 2 in 10 overs - the dream start for any side batting first in this format - before Brandon King was out stumped off Ravindra Jadeja off the first ball of the 11th over. In comes captain Kieron Pollard. Can India pull things back here?
Washington Sundar strikes!
He's helped by the umpire's favourable decision. Evin Lewis walks off for a 16-ball 40. He shuffled across against the spinner to put away a sweep, but didn't put bat to ball. The ball appeared to hit him in line, and the umpire raised his finger straight away. The impact was umpire's call by a very, very small margin. Despite the wicket though, WI have 66/2 in the first six overs.
WI move on with a 19-run over
Chahar has tried to bowl a bit shorter and from around the stumps, but both didn't work after his initial full length ploy earned a wicket. Simmons and King swung around to collect 19 runs as WI get a move on. They've moved away from the 2019 narrative of being rather poor in the PowerPlay to blaze away at Hyderabad today. One thing in consideration is the fact that they'll have to score about 15-20 runs more than what they need in order to account for dew. In that endeavour, you could call this a promising start.
Early wicket
Deepak Chahar strikes with his customary away movement in the air. Lendl Simmons hasn't spent enough time watching videos - readily available thanks to the IPL - of the quick getting the ball to shape away so consistently. He goes fishing, follows the movement and ends up nicking. Ball flies off the edge straight to Rohit Sharma at first slip.
ICYMI...
A TV umpire will call front foot no-balls in this series, starting today. Could be a potential game-changer (in more ways than one!).
TOSS: India opt to bowl; Kuldeep on the bench while India pick three spinners
Playing XI:
West Indies: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard(c), Denesh Ramdin(w), Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh, Sheldon Cottrell, Kesrick Williams, Khary Pierre
India: Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal
Prelude - India's spin decisions under the microscope
The red (and pink) ball games in recent times may not have tested Virat Kohli team selection acumen too much, but here's a format which India are yet to grip like they'd like. There's still a little more than 10 months before the World Cup Down Under, but it won't hurt him to start identifying the missing pieces in his jigsaw puzzle. Remember, India's only success in T20 World Cups came in 2007, which by their lofty standards cannot be regarded as acceptable returns.
The first task on his list of agendas will be to figure out who his spinners will be. For tonight, he'll have to choose between two wrist spinners in Chahal and Kuldeep and two finger spinners in Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja. Maybe one each is the way to go considering the variety it could offer. We'll have to wait and watch.
Things to watch
- KL Rahul, India opener:Shikhar Dhawan's injury could yet give the Karnataka batsman the lease of life he needs in India colours. Rahul has been incredible as an opener in the last two IPLs as well as for Karnataka in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Despite showing the sort of class and potential to be India's long-term opener in limited-overs, he has been reduced to a third option for a very settled duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. There's an argument to be made in favour Rahul even with Dhawan being fit, considering India's approach in the format looks a bit archaic considering how swiftly the game is progressing. But that's a headache for another time for Kohli because he has the chance now to field Rahul in the XI. Over to Rahul now to prove that he deserves a bump up from the reserves.
Blank slate beginning for Rishabh Pant?There's been so much noise around Rishabh and his "recent failures" that the time spent on the bench in the Tests against Bangladesh and South Africa would've helped him catch a break. The chance today, at No.5, should give him areason to erase all that's happened since the tour of West Indies and start afresh. And most importantly, stick to his natural instincts that can kick in more effectively in this format. A potential morale lifter for him should be the recent vote of confidence - first from Rohit Sharma and now Virat Kohli.