West Indies batsmen had their best outing on Friday night in the second T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, but it was still not enough for them to record their first victory on the tour of India, with an 8-run defeat stretching their losing run to five consecutive matches on this trip and one which also brought about another series defeat.
The West Indies did bring out their best with the bat on Friday night with vice-captain Nicolas Pooran once again smacking the Indian bowlers all around the park to score 62, with Rovman Powell top-scoring from either side with an unbeaten 68. But their efforts were just not enough for the Caribbean side to go past the finish line.
India were bolstered by identical scores of 52 from both Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant as they posted a daunting total of 186/5 from their 20 overs, after the Caribbean side captain Kieron Pollard, playing in his 100th T20I for the West Indies, invited them to bat first.
Sheldon Cottrell removed the dangerous Ishan Kishan from the equation in the second over itself while Indian captain Rohit Sharma never got going in his innings of 19, for which he consumed 18 balls and hit a couple of boundaries and 1 six. But Rohit was instrumental in providing India with a strong platform to launch themselves for a big total, adding vital 49 runs for the second wicket with former captain Kohli.
Kohli looked in imperious touch on Friday night, middling the ball right from the beginning and showing aggressive intent against the West Indies bowlers after suffering a string of failures in the last four matches. Kohli recorded his best score against the West Indies on this trip, cracking 7 boundaries and 1 six to make 52 from 41 balls.
Kohli was determined for a big knock on Friday night but he was denied one by West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase, who once again bowled a terrific spell of spin bowling to bamboozle the Indian batsmen, returning with figures of 4-0-25-3. Among the other West Indies bowlers, Cottrell and Romario Shepherd were among wickets.
The Indian batsmen carried their job to perfection on Friday night, putting up partnerships all along the way to keep on pushing for a big total. After Rohit and Kohli added 49 runs for the second wicket, Kohli partnered with Pant to add 34 for the fourth wicket, with the best partnership of the Indian innings coming from the pair of the Indian ‘keeper and all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer.
Pant and Iyer added 76 runs for the fifth wicket from only 35 balls to propel India to a total in excess of 180. Pant was magnificent in his innings on Friday night, hammering 7 boundaries and 1 six to make 52 not out from only 28 balls. All-rounder Iyer once again displayed his wide array of strokes, swatting 4 boundaries and 1 six to reach 33 not out from only 18 balls as India finished at a huge total.
The West Indies were required to bring out their ‘A’ game on Friday night but their top-order disappointed. Brandon King, who earlier dropped a crucial catch in India’s innings, consumed as many as 30 balls to make only 22 runs for which he hit 2 boundaries whereas Kyle Mayers perished after making 9 from 10 balls with the help of 1 boundary.
The asking run rate kept shooting up rapidly as the West Indies needed their aggressive batsmen to fire at last. Pooran continued with his run-making spree against India, having scored an impressive half-century in the first game of the series as well, Powell did his best too but the Caribbean side was meant to end on the losing side.
The left-handed batsman Pooran smashed 5 boundaries and 3 sixes to reach 62 from 41 balls, but his dismissal was the one that sealed the fate of the game in favour of India — it came at a very long time for the Caribbean side.
The Indian bowlers were having their struggles against dew which had made the ball completely wet and difficult to grip and release, but Bhuvneshwar and Patel had no qualms in nailing their final 3 overs right to win it for India.
Powell continued his good work to keep West Indies alive right until the end. The right-handed aggressive batsman hammered as many as 5 sixes and 4 boundaries to make a quickfire 68 from 36 balls. But the West Indies, who required 36 runs from the last 18 balls, could not continue with the momentum after Pooran was dismissed as they ended up losing the game by margin of 8 runs.
The two teams will once again get a full day's rest in Kolkata before they meet again on Sunday evening for the third match of the series, with India eyeing yet another clean sweep of the dangerous West Indies, while the visiting side taking the field in their bid to record a consolatory win.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
Read All Articles >
