Shreyas Iyer’s 102* powers India to eight-wicket win over West Indies in first T20I

Lucknow: Shreyas Iyer silenced his critics on Tuesday by scoring an unbeaten 102 off 43 balls as India chased down a tricky 172-run target with eight wickets and 32 balls to spare in the first T20I against the West Indies here.Iyer, who was named India’s T20I captain when he made his comeback to the team after the 2026 T20 World Cup, had been going through a tough phase and a shortage of runs on the tours of England and Ireland in June.On Tuesday, however, Iyer showed why the selectors backed him after dropping 2026 T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav, bringing up his hundred off just 42 balls. In his last T20 at the Ekana Stadium, Iyer had scored an unbeaten century for Punjab Kings against Lucknow Super Giants during the last edition of the IPL.Coming in at No. 4 in the fourth over after openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson fell with the scoreboard reading 35/2, Iyer took full control of the chase.He outscored Ishan Kishan, who remained unbeaten on 37 off 27 after surviving a dropped chance, in a 137-run third-wicket partnership in just 11.1 overs. Iyer hit six sixes and 10 boundaries in his brutal assault on the West Indies bowling attack.Earlier, debutant Naman Dhir made an immediate impact with his off-spin, picking up three wickets as India bowled out the West Indies for 171.Dhir finished with impressive figures of 3/31, while Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with 2/33 as India kept the West Indies batting line-up under control after an explosive start.Sent in to bat, West Indies skipper Shai Hope wasted little time getting going. Hope’s 52 off 37 balls up front and Sherfane Rutherford’s 56 off 34 at the back end took the visitors to 171.India eventually got their first breakthrough through Arshdeep Singh, who cleaned up Kamil Pooran with a full delivery. The West Indies then suffered another setback in the sixth over when Shimron Hetmyer was run out attempting a needless single.Things got worse almost immediately. Axar Patel struck in his second over, getting Rovman Powell to go for a big heave over square leg, only to find himself bowled by a pitch-up delivery.Just when the West Indies appeared to be losing their way, Rutherford changed the momentum. The left-hander launched Kuldeep for a six in the ninth over and then took Axar for two boundaries and a six in the 11th. Dhir ended his stay in the 12th over.Hope picked out deep midwicket, where Axar held on to the catch.Kuldeep struck again soon after, trapping Roston Chase plumb in front as the West Indies slipped to 114/5 after 12.3 overs.Romario Shepherd briefly threatened to swing the momentum back, depositing Dhir over deep square leg for a six. But the debutant had the last laugh, returning to dismiss Shepherd, who holed out to long-off where Tilak Varma took the catch.Kuldeep then produced another moment of brilliance in the deep, with Ishan Kishan taking a fine catch at deep midwicket to send Rutherford back.Dhir completed his three-wicket haul by removing Shamar Springer.Speedster Mayank Yadav, returning to the India set-up after an injury lay-off, had a difficult evening as the West Indies batters repeatedly took him on. He did, however, have the consolation of picking up Rutherford’s wicket.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.