India vs West Indies: India beat West Indies by 6 wickets, lead series 1-0

Kolkata: India on Wednesday defeated West Indies by six wickets in the first T20I in Kolkata as a superb finishing effort from Suryakumar Yadav helped the team gain a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The second T20I will now be played on Friday at the same venue.

India restricted West Indies to 157 for seven and then overhauled the target with seven balls to spare, scoring 162 for 4 in 18.5 overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma top-scored with a 19-ball 40, while Ishan Kishan made 35 off 42.

Chasing a competitive total, skipper Rohit Sharma gave India a flying start. He hit 22 runs off Odean Smith in the 4th over to get things going for India while his partner Ishan Kishan was slow off the blocks.

It was Roston Chase, who gave the West Indies the first wicket by getting rid of Rohit (40 off 19), who hit four fours and three sixes in his innings. Ishan Kishan, who struggled to get going, scored just 35 runs in 42 balls becoming Chase's second victim of the night. Virat Kohli's poor form then continued as he fell for 17 off 13 balls to Fabian Allen.

West Indies spinners bowled some disciplined overs in the middle overs and it seemed that the visitors were on their way to pulling off an extraordinary defence when vice-captain Rishabh Pant fell for eight runs off as many balls.

However, the in-form Suryakumar Yadav (34 off 18) then took control of the chase. His crucial 48 runs partnership with Venkatesh Iyer (24 off 13) helped India chase down the target in 18.5 overs.

Brief scores: West Indies 157/7 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 61, Kyle Mayers 31; Ravi Bishnoi 2/17, Harshal Patel 2/37) lost to India 162-4 in 18.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 40, Ishan Kishan 35; Roston Chase 2/14) by six wickets