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West Indies skipper Shai Hope admitted his side fell short in the opening T20I against India, stressing the need to produce their best cricket when facing a strong team in home conditions.
After the eight-wicket defeat in Lucknow, Hope urged his players to draw on their Indian Premier League (IPL) and previous touring experience, learn from their mistakes and bounce back in the next game. India began their five-match T20I series against West Indies in emphatic fashion, registering an eight-wicket victory in the first T20I at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. "When you come to India and play in their home conditions, you've got to play your best cricket. You know they're a very tough team to beat, so you've got to make sure you have more rights than wrongs - something that we didn't do well today. There are a lot of guys who have played here, whether it's in the IPL or previous tours. So we just need to use those experiences and find ways to get better and come back for the next game, Hope said at the press conference after the game. Batting first, West Indies posted 171 in their 20 overs. Hope felt the total was a par score and that such modest first-innings totals in Indian conditions makes bowling difficult for the bowlers. He also noted that Indias spinners extracted more turn from the surface than their West Indies counterparts could manage. "When you don't put a big score on the board when you're batting first in Indian conditions, it's always going to be tough for you as a bowling group. When you only have 170 [171] to defend and the wetness comes into play, the ball gets a lot wetter, the surface is a lot more placid, so it's always going to be more difficult from a bowling side of things. I also felt when India bowled, their spinners got a lot more spin on the surface, something that we didn't really get a chance to extract maybe because of the conditions, he added. The result gives India an early advantage in the five-match series and continues their strong run after their gold-medal triumph in the men's cricket event at the 2026 Asian Games. West Indies, meanwhile, will look to regroup ahead of the second T20I. (ANI)
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