Harshal Patel & Bhuvneshwar Kumar get away with the Onslaught of Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell
India clinched the 2nd T20I match by a mere 8 runs. India now have won 3 Series back to back against the Caribbean (*2018, 2019 & 2022). West Indies would be grumpy because they had 7 wickets in tank, this is the rarest time where West Indies lost the match. West Indies would be regretting their performance as now the 3rd T20I match becomes a dead rubber. Captain Kieron Pollard would be aiming to win at-least 1 match as they were whitewashed in the ODI Series by 3-0. The New Era of the Iconic Rahul Dravid & Rohit Sharma so far has been productive as now India has won 2 back to back T20I Series (*In November India swept New Zealand by 3-0)
West Indies had decided to have a go with the ball first. India managed to post a humongous total of 186 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. West Indies started their run chase in a cautious manner as they scored 41 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. West Indies were quite slow with the bat. The required run rate started to peak at 11. The duo of Nicholas Pooran & Rovman Powell didn’t panic, they got their eye in before going bang bang. Pooran was dropped on 21 by the leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi. He made the most of the dropped catch. Rovman Powell was dropped on 38 by the pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was striking the ball smoothly as ever as there was pure brute force in his hitting.
53 runs were required in 4 overs. In the 17th over Deepak Chahar got hammered as he conceded 16 runs & all of sudden West Indies needed 37 runs in 3 overs. The next 2 overs were critical as one more big over around 17 runs would have sealed the match for West Indies. Then came the foxy Harshal Patel who bowled 18th over. He gave away only 8 runs, the strikers failed to connect the ball. The batting side required 29 runs in last 2 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled one of the impeccable overs as he not only got rid of Pooran but he gave away only 4 runs. West Indies required 25 runs in the last over. Harshal Patel was the bowler, Powell gave Rohit Sharma a scare as he smashed 2 back to back sixes. The shrewd pacer got the better of the batter as India won the match by 8 wickets. Nicholas Pooran stroked 62 runs in 41 balls whereas the pinch hitter Rovman Powell smacked 68 runs in 36 balls.
The leg spinners Ravi Bishnoi & Yuzvendra Chahal were efficient with the ball. Both the spinners took 1 wicket & conceded 30 odd runs in their spells. The death bowling of Bhuvneshwar & Harshal was spot on as defending 37 runs is by no means everyone’s cup of tea.
After invited to bat first by West Indies, India had a fascinating power-play as they scored 49 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. After a long hiatus finally a billion people got to see Virat Kohli excel. He managed to notch up a half century of 52 runs in 41 balls. Roston Chases once again was the wrecker-in-chief as he created a havoc by picking up 3 wickets & he gave away only 25 runs in his spell of 4 overs. This time Rishabh Pant took the responsibility as he played a flamboyant knock of 52 runs in 28 balls. At the back end of the innings Venkatesh Iyer played a breezy cameo of 33 runs in 18 balls. India managed to put on a huge total of 186 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. West Indies gave away 19 extras which isn’t acceptable at this level where every run counts.
