cricket

Updated: Aug 07, 2019 10:04 IST

Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first as he expected the pitch, which was under covers for a long time, to have moisture and assist the seam bowlers. He also included Deepak Chahar in place of Khaleel Ahmed and gave him the new ball.

Young Chahar, who was impressive in the IPL with the new ball, vindicated the decision of the skipper as he got rid of Sunil Narine in his first over. He then followed it up with wickets of Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetymer and after 2 overs, he had bagged three wickets.

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The ball was swinging and he found more movement than even the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He took 3 wickets giving away just 4 runs in his 3 overs spell and in the process, created a unique record - it is best bowling figure in an innings by Indian bowler against West Indies in T20Is.

Also, he has the second-best economy rate (1.33) and ranks just after Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1.00) in a single innings against West Indies in T20Is.

As expected, he was adjudged the man of the match for his efforts. “The atmosphere was pretty good, I tried to swing the ball as the weather was conducive for doing so, also tried to bowl around the full length area because of the moisture,” Chahar said after the match.

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“The wicket was good and so was the weather. I assessed the conditions and I bowled more in-swingers than out-swingers. It was difficult to play against the ball coming into the batsman as compared to the one going away. I usually bowl with old balls in nets, that’s how I prepare myself. When the ball is swinging, I don’t use many variations. I was assessing the conditions on the first ball of every over,” he further added.