Obed McCoy, a left-arm fast bowler for the West Indies, destroyed India for 138 on Tuesday, helping the hosts win by five wickets and tie the series. It was one of the most significant bowling performances in T20 International cricket history (IST).
Before the host team maintained composure in the final over to tie the five-match series at 1-1, the 25-year-old fast had the best-ever stats by a West Indies bowler in the shortest format.
McCoy finished with 6/17 after a masterful four-over spell that included both accurate cutters and pace variations.
After that, opener Brandon King led the way with 68 runs off just 52 deliveries to spur a victorious West Indies chase. With a crucial unbeaten 31 off 19 balls, which included a six and a four, Devon Thomas came in at the tail end and showed his maturity and talent to lead West Indies to victory in the final over.
With 10 runs needed from the final over for West Indies, Thomas slashed the next ball from seamer Avesh Khan to the backward point boundary after clearing the ropes at extra cover with the first legal delivery of the over.
"It's an awesome sensation. I've been working extremely hard, so it feels fantastic to be able to perform against a quality team like India "McCoy, who was named "Player of the Match," remarked.
"I think you have to have a clear head when you're bowling. You go with your ideas and you assess the conditions — the ground, the wind, everything — and you simply bowl appropriately."
McCoy joined the likes of Keemo Paul (5/15 against Bangladesh), Daren Sammy (5/26 against Zimbabwe), Jason Holder (5/27 against England), and Oshane Thomas (5/28 against Sri Lanka) in taking five or more wickets in a Men's T20I; according to the ICC, he then outdid the previous quartet by taking a sixth wicket.
McCoy's performance broke Wanindu Hasaranga's 4/9 for Sri Lanka against India in Colombo last year, becoming the first player to take six wickets against India in a men's T20I.
Among McCoy's victims were players like Rohit Sharma (age 0) and Ravindra Jadeja (27).
The tall pacer struck first when he caught Sharma at deep gully in the first ball of the game. Suryakumar Yadav (11) then joined the India captain in the dressing room on the first ball of McCoy's second over.
Then, in the 17th over, McCoy made a comeback to trick Jadeja and claim his third match-winning victim. He then completed the victory by getting rid of Dinesh Karthik (7), Ravichandran Ashwin (10), and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) in his final over.
King led West Indies' reaction with the bat after the excellent bowling in the first half, smashing eight fours and a few huge sixes while dominating a 46-run opening stand with Kyle Mayers (8).
Together with captain Nicholas Pooran, who hit 14 before being out caught, in the deep off off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, they added another 25 runs for the second wicket. As a result, four wickets fell for 53 runs, causing a mini-collapse.
In the 16th over, King was bowled backing away to Avesh after reaching his fourth T20I half-century from 39 balls at the end of the 12th over, but Thomas maintained his composure and produced a historic victory.
Later on Tuesday, the third game in the series will be played.
Brief scores: India 138 in 19.4 overs (Rishabh Pant 24, Hardik Pandya 31, Ravindra Jadeja 27; Obed McCoy 6/17) lost to West Indies 141/5 in 19.2 overs (Brandon King 68, Devon Thomas 31 not out) by five wickets.