On This Day in 2016: West Indies Win T20 Thriller Against India in the US, Featuring Record 489 Runs and 32 Sixes

Last Updated: August 27, 2022, 07:48 IST

KL Rahul of India hits over the top for six during the only international T20 Trophy match between India and the West Indies in USA.

KL Rahul of India hits over the top for six during the only international T20 Trophy match between India and the West Indies in USA.

The exciting game commenced with the toss flipping in the favour of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Asked to bat first, West Indies took the remand of the Indian bowlers.

It rained sixes and boundaries at Lauderhill in Florida as India locked horns with West Indies in the first T20 International of the two-match series. The match was nothing less than a visual delight for the fans as the batters from both the sides put up a rollicking show. A record total of 489 runs were scored in only 40 overs as Evin Lewis and KL Rahul hammered a century each for their teams.

The exciting game commenced with the toss flipping in the favor of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Asked to bat first, West Indies took the remand of the Indian bowlers. The opening pair of Johnson Charles and Lewis stitched a 126-run partnership to give Indies a dream start. Charles lost his wicket after adding 79 runs to the scoreboard while Lewis went on to become the first player to smash a century on American soil in any format of the game.

Lewis’ match-defining knock of 100 runs was laced with five boundaries and nine maximums at an astounding strike rate of 204.08. In the end, West Indies ended up with a mammoth score of 245 runs on the scoreboard in their 20 overs. All the Indian bowlers leaked runs at an economy rate of around 11 except the spinner Ravi Ashwin who finished with an economy rate of 9.

Aiming to chase 246 runs in 20 overs, India had a dismal start as they lost their opening batsman Ajinkya Rahane at a poor score of seven. After the turbulent start, the Men in Blue bounced back stronger as KL Rahul smashed a scintillating hundred to bail the team out of the crisis. Rahul became the second player to smash a century in the USA as he played a remarkable knock of 110 runs off 51 deliveries.

The middle-order batsman was aptly supported by Rohit Sharma who scored 62 runs in just 28 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and four maximums. Despite a spectacular batting effort, India lost the match by one run as Dwayne Bravo successfully defended eight runs in the last over.

As West Indies won the high-scoring game, Lewis took the Man of the Match Award home.

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