Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 102 helps India beat West Indies by eight wickets in Lucknow T20
Captain Shreyas Iyer hit a 42-ball century as India won the first T20 in Lucknow and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
India beat West Indies by eight wickets in the first T20 match at the cricket stadium in Lucknow. With the win, India lead the series 1-0. Captain Shreyas Iyer played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 102.
India won the toss and chose to bowl first. West Indies could not bat out the full 20 overs and were all out for 172. Captain Shai Hope's 52 and Sherfane Rutherford's 56 contributed largely to the total. Rutherford hit 6 fours and 3 sixes in the middle overs to push the score along.
West Indies did not get off to a good start. Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer opened the innings but both returned early. Pooran made 12 and Hetmyer managed only 5. Hope held one end together and was out for 52. Rovman Powell failed to open his account. Roston Chase made only 5, Matthew Forde added 2 and Romario Shepherd also could not play a big innings.
India's bowling was good from the start. Naman Dhir dismissed the well-set Hope. Arshdeep Singh took Pooran's wicket, Hetmyer was run out and Axar Patel sent Powell back to the pavilion. Dhir took 3 wickets in all, while Kuldeep Yadav picked up 2 important wickets.
Chasing 172, India did not begin as well. Openers Sanju Samson, out for 11, and Abhishek Sharma, out for 21, fell early. Abhishek looked in good rhythm, but Hetmyer caught him off Chase's bowling. Soon afterwards Akeal Hosein had Samson leg before. India were 35 for 2 in the fourth over.
Ishan Kishan, who came in at number three, and Iyer then hammered the West Indies bowlers at every opportunity. The two stayed at the crease till the end and took India home. Kishan remained not out on 37.
Iyer completed his century in just 42 balls. In his unbeaten 102 he hit 10 fours and 6 big sixes. He carried his form from the Asian Games 2026 into this match and gave India a 1-0 lead in the series.
