India vs West Indies 1st T20I: Jason Holder, Rovman Powell spoil Team India's party

West Indies bowlers successfully defended 149 runs to beat India by 4 runs in the opening T20 International match here on Thursday (August 3). With this win, the Men in Maroon went 1-0 up in the five-match series.

All-rounder Jason Holder starred with the ball for West Indies as the hosts restricted the tourists to 145/9 in the run chase of 150. It was the first T20I match played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago, and the hosts came out victorious in some style.

The hosts, thus, successfully defended the fourth-lowest total against India in the T20Is. Holder - who returned with brilliant figures of 4-1-19-2 - was awarded the player of the match for his performance.

The tall right-arm pacer picked up the crucial wickets of Hardik Pandya (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (21). Obed McCoy (2/28) and Romario Shepherd (2/33) also played their parts well to prevent a star-studded Indian batting line-up cross the line in a relatively small run chase.

With 37 needed off the last 30 balls and six wickets in hand, the Indian batters self-destructed to score only 33 runs in the last five overs and lost five wickets as well.

For India, debutant Tilak Varma was the top-scorer with his knock of 39 off 22 balls. The left-handed top-order batter announced his arrival in top-flight cricket by getting off the mark with back-to-back maximums on the first deliveries he faced.

The Indians were off to a disastrous start in the run chase as Ishan Kishan (9) and Shubman Gill (3) were dismissed cheaply. The team pinned hopes on their star batter Suryakumar Yadav - who is ranked number one in the world in T20Is - but it wasn't his day.

SKY was removed by Holder at a critical juncture and once Varma was dismissed by Shepherd, the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Sanju Samson (12) and Axar Patel (13) also failed to provide the impetus team needed in the death overs. India's batting was a tad disappointing in this game, which cost them dearly.

Yuzvendra Chahal shines with the ball for India

Earlier in the day, India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal made an instant impact in his first game on the tour before a captain's knock from Powell took the Windies to 149 for six after they elected to bat first.

Besides Powell's 48 off 32 balls, the in-form Nicholas Pooran made an entertaining 41 off 34 balls. India handed maiden T20 caps to young batter Tilak Varma and pacer Mukesh Kumar, who made his Test and ODI debut earlier on the tour.

With the new ball not doing much in the powerplay, the Indian pace duo of Mukesh and Arshdeep Singh was not able to put the West Indies top-order under pressure. Hardik Pandya introduced spin in the fourth over and Brandon King (28 off 19) made his intentions clear with an inside-out six over cover off Axar Patel.

Chahal (2/24) was brought into the attack in the following over and a struggling Kyle Myers (1) missed a slog sweep off the leggie's googly only to be adjudged lbw. The replays showed the ball was missing the stumps but Myers chose not to review.

Two balls later, King missed a straight ball off Chahal to be trapped in front. Pooran, fresh from his sensational hundred in the Major League Cricket final, looked in devastating touch from ball one. He dispatched Axar for a six and four in the cow corner region, leaving the West Indies at 54 for two in six overs.

Powell then got into the act and smashed three sixes and as many fours to take the innings forward. However, the West Indies were never able to get the final flourish, adding 42 runs off the last 30 balls with the loss of two wickets. Besides Chahal, Arshdeep (2/31) also chipped in with two wickets for the visitors.

(With PTI inputs)