West Indies were chasing a steep target on a surface which was not entirely easy to play free-flowing strokes. However, they literally strolled to the target, they never looked challenged as they breached the target of 288 with ridiculous ease. Here in this article, we take a look at the three reasons why India lost this match.
Indifferent start
After losing the toss, Indian captain Virat Kohli said that he wanted to bat first as he expected the surface to slow down. However, his side did not get off to an entirely bright start as KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were back in the hut. Although Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer stitched together a 100-run stand, the rather slow start in the first 10 overs came back to hurt India.
Not enough penetration in the middle overs
India did not include Yuzvendra Chahal in the playing XI and hence, Kohli was forced to use Shivam Dube and Kedar Jadhav as the fifth bowling option. Against a well-settled Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope, this was never going to be a challenging prospect. The Indian bowlers were neither able to bog them down, nor were they able to break their partnership and well, this proved to be the decisive factor in the chase.
“It (pitch) played differently under lights. I think they batted really well, you can’t take that out of the equation. But I think the ball wasn’t holding enough for the fast bowlers. Hetmyer was outstanding and Shai as well,” Virat Kohli said after the match.
Lack of experience
Both Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer reached their 50s, both were looking sorted and settled and yet, both departed in quick succession trying to go for lofted strokes. While their intent will not be questioned, their execution will. After their wickets, West Indies were smart in the final 10 overs and bowled into the pitch a lot. They conceded 71 runs in the final phase and this prevented India from going past 300.
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