‘Boom Boom’ Bishnoi shines on debut

Ravi Bishnoi overcame a nervy start on debut and then let rip his wrong’uns to give India a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. He bowled four overs full of wrong’uns, to help India restrict West Indies to 157 for 7, despite Nicholas Pooran’s halfcentury. Bishnoi’s two-wicket haul was backed up by quality knocks by Rohit Sharma (40) and Suryakumar Yadav (34*) as India defeated West Indies by six wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series here at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

At his favourite groud, Rohit smashed a 19-ball 40 (6x3, 4x4) to give India the perfect foundation after his bowlers restricted the visitors to 157 for seven.

In the company of Venkatesh Iyer (24 off 13), Surkyakumar then hit a brisk 34 in just 18 deliveries to help India chase down the target of 158 with seven balls to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Roston Chase (2/14) bowled brilliantly in the middle overs and dismissed the two Indian openers -- Rohit and Ishan Kishan -- before the hosts also lost Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant to leave them at 114/4 inside 15 overs.

The most expensive IPL buy, Ishan Kishan, who was bought back by the Mumbai Indians for a staggering Rs 15.25 crore, made 35 in 42 balls before becoming Chase’s second victim.

Kishan, who opened the batting with the skipper, struggled to get going even as Rohit looked in full flow.

Former India skipper Virat Kohli also continued his lean patch and fell cheaply for a 13-ball 17, hitting straight to Kieron Pollard at longoff boundary.

But Rohit’s flying start meant that India remained on course before Suryakumar and Iyer produced the finishing act with an unbroken 48-run partnership from 26 balls.

For the Windies, Chase was impressive and also took the wicket of Ishan Kishan to finish with fantastic figures of 4-0-14-2.

Earlier, on a high after his hefty IPL buyout, wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran returned to form a with a brisk 61 as West Indies recovered from a mid-innings slump to post a fighting total

The left-hander, who clinched a fat paycheck of Rs 10.75 crore from Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL mega auction, got back to rhythm in style, scoring his runs in 43 balls with five sixes and four boundaries.

The Windies No. 3, who endured an abysmal last IPL with 85 runs at a poor average of 7.72 and had scores of 18, 9 and 34 in the preceding three ODIs, made his intention clear by smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a big six early on.

The Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and debutant legs-pinner Ravi Bishnoi derailed the Windies in the middle overs by taking three wickets in between them, but Pooran held on as the visitors unleashed their fury in the death by scoring 61 runs in the the last five overs.

Jodhpur’s googly man Bishnoi made his debut memorable as he returned tidy figures of 4-0-17-2, including the wickets of Roston Chase (4) and Rovman Powell (2) in a space of four balls to derail the Windies in the middle overs.

Kyle Mayers and Pooran steadied the innings before the wicketkeeper broke the shackles with a big six against Bhuvneshwar.

Rohit was quick to bring in his most experienced spinner in the lineup, Chahal, immediately after the powerplay and almost had the dangerous-looking Pooran first ball.

But the debutant Bishnoi made an error of judgment while going for the catch, stepping on the rope to give Pooran a reprieve on 8.

Chahal, however, got the muchneeded breakthrough when he trapped the well-set Mayers, who reviewed the decision but to no avail.

Then the debutant from Jodhpur had the Windies caught in his spin web, before Pooran and Pollard propped them up.

BCCI to allow 20,000 odd spectators at Eden for 3rd T20I

The BCCI has decided to allow 20,000 spectators, mostly ticketholding members of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) to watch the third and final T20I between India and the West Indies on October 20.

Scoreboard
West Indies Innings:
Brandon King c Suryakumar Yadav b Bhuvneshwar 4
Kyle Mayers lbw b Chahal 31
Nicholas Pooran c Kohli b Harshal Patel 61
Roston Chase lbw b Ravi Bishnoi 4
Rovman Powell c Venkatesh Iyer b Ravi Bishnoi 2
Akeal Hosein c and b D Chahar 10
Kieron Pollard not out 24
Odean Smith c Rohit b Harshal Patel 4

Extras: (LB-6, W- 11) 17
Total: (7 wkts, 20 Overs) 157
Fall of Wickets: 4-1, 51-2, 72-3, 74-4, 90-5, 135-6, 157-7.
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-31-1, Deepak Chahar 3-0- 28-1, Harshal Patel 4-0-37-2, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-34-1, Ravi Bishnoi 4-0-17-2, Venkatesh Iyer 1-0-4-0.

India Innings:
Rohit Sharma c Odean Smith b Roston Chase 40
Ishan Kishan c Fabian Allen b Ros