Following his side's thumping win over West Indies by 59 runs in the fourth T20I, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma backed pacer Avesh Khan, saying that the team understands his talent. Solid knocks from Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson were complemented well by solid efforts from Indian pacers and spinners both, especially Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh. It helped India clinch a 59-run win over West Indies in the fourth T20I on Saturday. "I think it was pleasing how we played the game. The conditions were not easy but we got to a good score. A lot of thought went in on how we batted and it was pleasing to see. The pitch was quite slow which our bowlers used to their advantage. I thought 190 was a good score, but with the kind of batting that WI have, no score is good. We played good cricket to get the win today," said Rohit in a post-match conference.
#TeamIndia are putting up a fine show with the ball.
West Indies 116/8 after 15 overs in the chase.
Follow the match https://t.co/DNIFgqfRJ5 #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/5yr3rzrAxB
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 6, 2022
"The batters were really smart and the bowlers bowled in pairs to get wickets. It put the brakes on their scoring. We do understand Avesh's talent. Anyone can have one or two bad games, but we want to keep his skills in mind. We want to give boys enough game time in the middle. He used the conditions and his height really well, which was great to see. I would also like to thank all the people who came in; I know it is hot and it isn't easy to sit out there and watch the game. There's another day to go," he added.
Coming to the match, India posted 191/5 in their first innings. Rishabh Pant (44), Rohit Sharma (33) and Sanju Samson (30) were the biggest contributors for Men in Blue with the bat. Despite such a solid score, West Indies did not allow any big partnerships to happen, except for a 53-run opening stand between Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (24). Alzarri Joseph (2/29) and Obed McCoy were the leading bowlers for the Windies.
Chasing 192, West Indies innings looked terrible from the start. Twin assault by pacer Avesh (2/17) and spinner Axar Patel (2/48) left Windies struggling at 82/5. Captain Nicholas Pooran (24) and Rovman Powell (24) gave decent contributions, but far from enough in helping the Windies win the game. Later, Arshdeep Singh wiped off some batters from lower middle order/lower order to deliver an economic spell of 3/12. WI was bundled out for 132 and lost by 59 runs.
Avesh Khan won the 'Man of the Match' award for his spell after leaking runs in the previous two games and getting only one wicket in those two games combined. The fifth and final T20I will be played in Florida on Sunday.
