Young Shivam Dube made full use of the opportunity presented as he smashed his first T20 international half-century against against West Indies in the second T20I at the Greenfields Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
But the West Indies side pulled it back in the end to restrict India to 170/7 in their 20 overs. India, who were looking good with Dube and Virat Kohli at the crease, managed only 66 runs in the last 9 overs.
West Indian bowlers picked up the wickets of Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to put more pressure on India. Sheldon Cottrell bowled an excellent last over to give away only 6 runs and take a wicket.
In the end, Rishabh Pant was unbeaten on 33 off 22 balls. Giving him company was Deepak Chahar.
In a surprise move, Dube was promoted to number three instead of skipper Virat Kohli after Rahul’s dismissal. And the all-rounder didn’t disappoint. He took his time to settle down before hitting 4 sixes and 3 fours, en route his 30-ball 54.
Eventually, Dube got a little carried away as he gave away his wicket, immediately after getting dropped at long-on by Pollard. But Hetmyer at extra-cover didn’t make any such mistake one ball later as Hayden Walsh picked up a wicket in his first over of the match.
Meanwhile, Kesrick Williams finally got the better off Virat Kohli (19) after the Indian skipper took him down with his signature ‘notebook celebration’ in Hyderabad.
Trying to fend away a slow delivery from Williams, Kohli edged it towards Phil Simmons at short third man, who completed the formality.
After his well-made 62 in the first T20I in Hyderabad, India opener KL Rahul failed to recreate the same magic. Rahul (11) was caught at the boundary by Shimron Hetmyer off spinner Khary Pierre in the fourth over of the match with the India’s score 24/1, after West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard put India to bat.
Once again Rohit Sharma struggled at the top of the order, before giving away his wicket to Jason Holder. The Indian vice-captain was bowled out for an 18-ball 15.
Rohit never looked comfortable on the slow wicket. Holder dismantled his furniture as Rohit shuffled right across the stumps to manufacture a scoop shot right over the keeper’s head.
India lead the three-match series 1-0 after registering a comprehensive 6-wicket victory in the 1st ODI in Hyderabad on Friday, 6 December.
Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with the bat. He scored a 50-ball 94 to help India scale a mammoth target of 208 runs - the highest-ever chased down by Team India in T20 internationals.
India had gone with an unchanged side from the Hyderabad T20I. Kohli said that India would have liked to bowl first as well.
“It’s a nice and hard pitch, I think it should be a pretty good pitch to bat on during the first half. It’s not a worry, we haven’t defended too many totals in the past. It’s a mindset thing, it’s all about belief.”Virat Kohli
Meanwhile, West Indies made one change with Nicholas Pooran coming in for Denesh Ramdin. Pooran would be making his comeback after his four-match ban for ball-tampering.
"We need to restrict them to a low total. We can't be critical on the batsmen that everytime you score 200, you win a game. Hopefully we come out and do things right today," said Pollard.
Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal
West Indies: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard(c), Jason Holder, Khary Pierre, Hayden Walsh, Sheldon Cottrell, Kesrick Williams
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