Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has revealed the turning point of the fourth T20I between India and the West Indies, which the visitors won by 24 runs at Hyderabad on Wednesday. In the run chase of 248, India was going smoothly as they scored 60 runs in the first six overs.
However, India lost three quick wickets of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer and were reduced to 97-3. Kaif reckons those three quick wickets tilted the game in West Indies’ favour.
While Sanju Samson top-scored with 56 runs, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were dismissed cheaply after scoring six and 16, respectively. After the Powerplay, Abhishek Sharma failed to change gears as he crawled to 29 runs off 24 balls.
“The first wicket fell after 60 runs, and that is fine. But you were down three wickets around the 90- run mark, and that changed the match. You lost three in-form batters: Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, and Ishan Kishan in no time. I think that was the big turning point in the match. West Indies made a comeback after that,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“India had got the start they wanted after Sanju Samson scored a quick fifty. But when those three wickets fell in quick time, India got in trouble. Of course, Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy fought a bit and scored towards the end, but India were never able to come back after they lost three wickets in a row,” he added.
On the other hand, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer admitted the ball was holding a bit in the middle overs, and thus they could not get going.
“Yeah, it was holding a bit and there were some more bounces as well. But yeah, knowing that I feel the bowlers, they realized it. They are bowlers and the way they bowled according to the field, that’s what was important, especially in those middle overs,” Shreyas Iyer said during the post-match presentation.
The fifth and final match of the series between India and the West Indies will be played at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.
