Iyer's 102 off 43 balls beats West Indies by eight wickets in Lucknow

Shreyas Iyer made an unbeaten 102 off 43 balls as India beat West Indies by eight wickets in the first Twenty20 international in Lucknow on Tuesday.

West Indies were bowled out for 171 in 19.1 overs. India reached 172 for 2 in 14.4 overs, with 32 balls to spare. Iyer's hundred, his first in the format, came off 42 balls. He hit 10 fours and six sixes. Ishan Kishan finished 37 not out. Their third-wicket stand was 137 off 67 balls.

Iyer won the toss and fielded. Shai Hope made 52 and Sherfane Rutherford 56, the two innings that dragged West Indies up from 135 for 8. It was still a total India never looked like missing once the third wicket settled. Sanju Samson went for 11. India were 35 for 2 inside four overs, 62 for 2 in the powerplay, and 102 for 2 at halfway. From there the rate only rose.

Iyer reached 50 off 28 balls, his 11th half-century in T20 internationals and his first in 10 innings. The next 50 took 14 balls. In the 14th over he took 24, three sixes and a four, and moved to 95. Two balls into the 15th he hit Roston Chase over long-on for the hundred. He had been dropped at long-on earlier in that burst. The ICC timed the hundred at 42 balls and called it the fourth-highest score by an Indian captain in men's T20 internationals. He finished 102 not out.

The win is India's 10th in a row in the format. Iyer is captaining the side in this series after leading India to gold at the Asian Games. The match was the first of five, at the Ekana stadium, with the toss at 6.30pm IST. West Indies, led by Hope, had chased 352 to win the third one-day international before this series. That chase did not travel into the shorter game. From 135 for 8 they had no depth left once Hope and Rutherford were done.

The bowling that produced 171 was enough to keep the game inside 20 overs and not enough to defend the total. India's reply used one partnership. Kishan and Iyer came together at 35 for 2 and were not separated. The 137 they added is the match. Iyer faced 43 of the balls in the chase. Kishan faced the rest of a stand that lasted 67 deliveries. At that rate a target of 172 does not last until the death, and it did not.

Iyer's previous T20 international scores had not included a hundred. The 42-ball timing puts the innings among the quicker Indian centuries in the format. Nation News described it as tied for the sixth-fastest by an India player. The ICC's note was about the captain's list, not the all-India list. Both can be true. The scorebook entry is the one that matters for the series: 102 not out, India 172 for 2, West Indies 171 all out.

Four matches remain. West Indies have Hope and Rutherford in form and a batting card that collapsed around them. India have a captain who has just made the first hundred of his T20 international career in the opening game of a five-match series, and a 10-match winning run that is now intact. The next game will show whether 171 was a one-off or the level of total this West Indies side is going to post.

Iyer's choice to field first is the decision the result justified. A used pitch in Lucknow in early October can take spin later. He did not need the later overs. The game was done in the 15th.

Hope's 52 and Rutherford's 56 were made after the top order had gone. A side that is 135 for 8 and still posts 171 has two batters who can do damage and a card that cannot protect them. India's eight-wicket margin in the chase, with two down, is the mirror. One partnership was enough. The series is five matches. West Indies need a total that forces India past the 16th over. They did not post one in Lucknow.