India defeated West Indies by six wickets in the first T20I at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
India overhauled the 158-run target with seven balls to spare, scoring 162 for 4 in 18.5 overs.
Skipper Rohit Sharma gave India a flying start with a 19-ball 40, while Ishan Kishan made 35 off 42. Virat Kohli look good during his brief but brisk stay of 17, while Rishabh Pant fell to a rash shot yet again for 8.
Suryakumar Yadav (34 not out) and Ventakesh Iyer (24 not out) eventually took the team home.
Roston Chase (2/14) accounted for two wickets, while Sheldon Cottrell (1/35), Fabian Allen (1/10) picked up one wicket each.
But credit should go to the Indian bowlers for restricting the Windies to 157/7. Ravi Bishnoi had a dream debut taking two for 17 in his four overs. Harshal Patel (2/37) also snapped two wickets.
Nicholas Pooran, who had fetched a staggering 10.75 crore deal in the IPL mega auction, returned to form with a 43-ball 61 to anchor the innings. The left-hander hit five sixes and four boundaries.
The Windies No. 3, who endured an abysmal last IPL with 85 runs at a poor average of 7.72 and had scores of 18, 9 and 34 in the preceding three ODIs, made his intention clear by smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a big six early on.
The Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and debutant leg-spinner Bishnoi derailed the Windies in the middle overs by taking three wickets in between them, but Pooran held on as the visitors unleashed their fury in the death by scoring 61 runs in the last five overs.
A fit-again Kieron Pollard, who missed the last two matches in the ODI series, played a cameo (24 not out from 19 balls) with two fours and one six.
Jodhpur's googly man Bishnoi made his debut memorable as he returned tidy figures of 4-0-17-2, including the wickets of Roston Chase (4) and Rovman Powell (2) in a space of four balls to derail the Windies in the middle overs.
(With PTI inputs)
