Gill rocks, Jaiswal stars as India level series

PTI

Lauderhill (USA), August 12

Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal hit glittering fifties as India humbled West Indies by nine wickets in their fourth T20I of their five-match series here today.

India hunted down 178 with three overs to spare, and the victory helped them level the series 2-2. The deciding fifth T20I will be played here tomorrow.

Coming into the match, India needed some runs from their openers and the two youngsters did precisely that.

Gill (77 off 47 balls) and Jaiswal (84 not out off 51 balls) got into the act from the first ball and hardly slowed down. They made 165 runs together and it was India’s best stand for the opening wicket in this series so far.

There were apprehensions about pitch getting slowed down in the second half of the match, as it has often happened in the past. But the centre square that was recently refurbished using the Mississippi soil stayed true for the whole course of the match.

Gill and Jaiswal used the wicket’s friendly nature fully as 66 runs were ransacked in the powerplay itself. The eight fours and three sixes they smoked during that phase underscored Indian batters’ dominance.

Gill was the first to stroll past the fifty-run mark, cutting Rovman Powell past the point fielder for a couple.

Jaiswal soon joined his partner on that landmark point, and it was achieved in a more spectacular fashion.

Powell tried to go wide of off-stump but the left-hander moved across and thumped the ball through wide square leg for a boundary, and celebrated his maiden T20I fifty.

Earlier, an outstanding effort by the bowlers helped India pin down West Indies to a total that was underwhelming considering a pitch that offered true bounce and little turn. Arshdeep Singh (3/38) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/26) took most of the wickets for India

Brief scores:

West Indies: 178/8 in 20 overs (Hetmyer 61, Hope 45; Arshdeep 3/38, Kuldeep 2/26);

India: 179/1 in 17 overs (Jaiswal 84*, Gill 77; Shepherd 1/35).

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