India suffered another disappointing defeat in the second T20I game against West Indies on Sunday, August 6. Nicholas Pooran smashed a sensational fifty to help West Indies record a two-wicket win while chasing a 153-run target at Providence Stadium in Guyana.
The travelling side won the toss and elected to bat first after failing to chase 149 runs in the first game. Youngster Ravi Bishnoi came in place of injured spinner Kuldeep Yadav while the hosts remained unchanged.
West Indies started positively with Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav’s early wickets. Ishan Kishan also struggled for attacking style of cricket despite scoring 27 runs off 23 balls but Tilak Varma smashed his maiden international fifty to help India score a challenging total. Sanju Samson failed to make an impact for the second consecutive innings while Hardik Pandya scored 24 runs off 18 balls. Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph and Romario Shepherd took two wickets each for the Caribbean side to dominate Indian batters.
While defending the total, Hardik gave India a flying start with Brandon King’s wicket on the innings’ first delivery. He dismissed experienced batter Johnson Charles after three more deliveries to put India in the driving seat. The left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh dismissed Kyle Mayers in the fourth over adding more pressure on West Indies.
But the last match’s top two run-scorers Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell repeated their success with a crucial 57-run stand for the fourth wicket to balance the game. Powell scored 21 runs before getting dismissed by Hardik but in-form Pooran recorded another brilliant knock against India.
Pooran scored 67 off 40 with the help of six fours and four sixes to become the leading run-getter against India in T20Is. He broke the former Australian captain Aaron Finch’s record of 500 runs against the Men in Blue. But Indian bowlers made a great comeback with Pooran’s wicket in the 14th over.
West Indies lost their next four wickets by adding only three runs to almost lose the hopes. But tailenders Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph pulled off the game by adding unbeaten 26 runs for the ninth wicket. With a win, West Indies took a crucial 2-0 lead in this series and first time they beat India in consecutive games.
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