The second T20 game was won by the visitors, levelling the series 1-1. It was a close match but the visitors fought hard to make a positive impact. They had looked good right throughout this campaign than they had last time around. The performances and intensity were much better, though the result was once again the same. Lendl Simmons was the stand-out performer for his team, though his team-mates couldn’t really support him. Here are the key points to take note of-
1. Fielding lapses gave reprieve to openers.
The Caribbean side defeated Team India by eight wickets, with nine balls to spare. Lendl Simmons played a fantastic knock to chase down the target of 171. Simmons and Evin Lewis stitched a 73-run partnership, which frustrated Team India. Simmons was dropped by Washington Sundar and Lewis by wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, which cost team India so much. Deepak Chahar and veteran Bhuvneshwar started very well in the power-play.
However, drops in the fifth over of the innings changed the entire match scenario. Bhuvneshwar could have taken two wickets in that over but eventually had to go wicketless in the end. Lewis took complete advantage of it and smacked three sixes in the bowling of Sundar and Yujvendra Chahal.
Simmons also smashed Chahal and Sundar for boundaries and sixes in next few overs. At last in the tenth over, Sundar knocked down Lewis, as he got stumped by Pant on a beautiful delivery.
2. Skipper took a stunner.
One down batsman, Shimron Hetmyer plundered three humongous sixes before getting caught by skipper Virat Kohli in a terrific effort. He pulled out the ball from the rope to give Hetmyer a sending-off. However, Simmons and wicket-keeper batsman Nicholas Pooran pushed the West Indies team to the target by their powerful hits.
Deepak Chahar and Chahal proved ineffective. Only Sundar could control the run-rate as he gave away only 26 runs from fours overs to pick one wicket.
3. Shivam Dube shines on the occasion.
Another slow pitch after the Hyderabad T20I made the Indian batsmen struggle for timing. Lokesh Rahul couldn’t score much in this match to get out on 11. Rohit Sharma continued his struggles to get out on 15 runs, after wasting 18 valuable deliveries. At the one down position when Shivam Dube came out to bat ahead of skipper Virat Kohli, all fans got surprised as it was something unusual.
Shivam rose on the occasion after his initial struggles to hit a fabulous fifty off 27 balls. Hetmyer took the catch of Dube when he tried to clear the infield by a lofted shot. Dube scored 54 off just 30 balls, with the help of three fours and four mega sixes. At the other end, skipper Kohli couldn’t find his mojo and got out on 19 runs off 17 balls.
4. Rishabh Pant set a promising total
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant smashed a calculated inning of 33 off 22 balls, comprising of three boundaries and one six to finish off the innings on 170. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t make an impact by his batting and bowling in the whole match, as Team India struggled to find their usual mojo. Team India now have to think on inadequate fielding efforts and slow batting of some players, as we look forward to the T20 World Cup next year.
