(Cricket news) Obed McCoy registered the best T20I bowling figures for any West Indies player in T20 history as his 6/17 set the tone for a five-wicket win which levelled up the series hosts in at St. Kitts yesterday. The match was delayed by 3hrs considerably due to an issue with the arrival of the players' kits. The West Indian pacer began the game with a wicket-maiden upfront and then went onto claim four at the backend to wrap up India's innings for just 138 runs. Brandon King then led the chase with a brilliant knock of 68 but a slump in the middle-overs left them in a tricky spot until Devon Thomas provided the finishing act of 31* (19) which helped the hosts to level up the series.

India's strike rate at the end of their first seven overs was 9 which was very disappointing compared to the high batting standards India have set. Rohit Sharma was the first to fall to McCoy with the first ball of the game he then struck again with the first ball of his second over as well, when he lured Suryakumar Yadav into an expansive drive to induce a thick outside edge to the keeper. Alzarri Joseph, who went for 17 runs in his first over returned and accounted for Sheryas Iyer’s wicket with a bouncer. Rishabh Pant was looking in good touch after he opened his account with a legside six as he gave spinner Akeal Hosein the charge down the wicket only to pick out deep midwicket with perfection and fall for a 12-ball 24.

India was significantly slow in the middle-overs phase as both Hosein (1/22) and Holder's (2/23) snuck in a few tight overs on the trot. Jadeja finally broke the shackles in the 11th over when he smoked one over Hosein's head and straight into the sightscreen. Pandya followed it up with a six of Odean Smith in the following over. But just as the partnership looked to be switching gears, Holder applied the brakes with a slower one to get Hardik out for a run-a-ball 31. Windies continued to slip in the economical overs as India reached their 100 in the 13th over, but could only crawl to 117 at the end of 17th over. McCoy returned for his second spell and wreaked havoc with his slower ones, he first sent Jadeja packing as the allrounder found long-on after searching for a release shot, then Ashwin became his fourth prey as McCoy's triple strikes in the penultimate over shoot down India for their lower first-innings total in the Caribbean.

During the chase, King laid the marker with a lovely square-drive for four off Bhuvneshwar. He then hit consecutive boundaries of Arshdeep as he took on both the experienced spinner in Jadeja and Ashwin to wrap up a wicket-less powerplay. West Indies may have been comparatively behind India for the majority of the chase as they were 46/0 after powerplay and reached the hundred only in the 15th over. King was on fire as he held up one end superbly to keep his team in the hunt at all times despite losing three wickets at the other end. His 39-ball fifty drove West Indies forward even after Indian bowlers were slowly but steadily finding their rhythm. The fight back was led by Hardik Pandya (1-22) who took a wicket after the first ball of the powerplay.

West Indies were comfortably placed when 75 was required off just 72 balls and nine wickets in hand. India managed to tighten the screws and dragged it down to 27 off the last three overs. Ultimately Thomas came to West Indies rescue after Arshdeep had squeezed out a very economical 17th over to build up the pressure, the asking rate was again high. But Thomas gambled with a cutter from Hardik in the 18th and clubbed it flat over deep midwicket to bring the equation down to 16 off the final two. Arshdeep was proving the selectors why he needs to be in the T20 World Cup squad this year as heagain eked out a tight over where he yorked Rovman Powell and gave away only six runs.The over was entrusted with Avesh Khan who subsequently overstepped on the first ball of the final over and and presented opportunity to Thomas who latched on the free-hit to hit a six over deep extra cover to kill the chase before wrapping up the formalities with a four the next ball.

India 138 all out in 19.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 31; Obed McCoy 6-17) lost to West Indies 141/5 in 19.2 overs (Brandon King 68, Devon Thomas 31*; Hardik Pandya 1-22) by 5 wickets

Also read: McCoy takes six as West Indies beat India by five wickets