Picture : Twitter/ ICC
West Indies batsmen overcame some jitters towards the end but managed to keep their clam to beat India two wicket in the second T2oI at Guyana. The West Indies have taken a 2-0 lead in the five- match series.
After Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat, Debutant Tilak Varma continued his good run in the shortest format and produced a well-calculated fifty to take India to 152 for seven.
India in a spot of bother at 18/2, Varma put up a crucial 42-run partnership with Ishan Kishan (27) before joining forces with skipper Hardik Pandya to stitch a 38-run stand. Hardik (24) tried to inflate India’s total by hitting two sixes but Alzarri Joseph (2/28) produced a cracking yorker to get rid of the Indian skipper.
Opting to bat, the script didn’t go as per plan for the visitors as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Kishan (27) played a few shots in his 23-ball stay including a six off Akeal Hosein (2/29) over deep square leg but couldn’t convert his start into a meaningful innings as he was bowled by Romario Shepherd. Shubman Gill’s (7) stay in the middle was once again a brief one. Suryakumar Yadav (1), Sanju Samaosn ( 7 ) disappointed.
For West Indies , Akeal Hosein (2/29) and Joseph (2/28) also starred with the ball along with Romario Shepherd (2/28), sharing six wickets amongst themselves.
In the chase for the West Indies , Nicholas Pooran smashed his way to a scintillating half-century. Pooran then blazed away to 67 from 40 balls to put his side on course. Yuzvendra Chahal (2/19) gave them jitters. But keeping cool head – Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph shared an unbeaten 26-run partnership to help the West Indies complete the task with seven balls to spare and give them a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Deciding to take the new ball, Pandya bowled a fiery first over that yielded India the wickets of opener Brandon King (0) and Johnson Charles (2).
Charles then fell victim to another swinging delivery by Hardik as the hosts were dealt a double blow at the start of their innings.
But star batter Pooran was unperturbed as he tonked Hardik for a six before slashing one for a boundary.
The big-hitting Kyle Mayers (15) joined his partner as he hit a couple of boundaries and a six before Arshdeep Singh trapped him leg before.
Pooran continued with his counter-attacking ways as he collected 18 runs in the next over. The flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter got those runs off leggie Ravi Bishnoi, that included a massive six over long-on.
Post- match, Not pleased with his team’s display with the willow, India skipper Hardik Pandya said batters have to take more responsibility going forward.
