India completely outplayed West Indies by 6 wickets in the opening match of the three-match T20I series, courtesy an explosive 94-run knock by skipper Virat Kohli. The hosts will now be eyeing to seal the series when the two teams meet for the second game at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Sunday.
With a strong batting performance, India made light work of their highest T20I run chase but the hosts produced an under-par performance in the bowling and fielding departments. Indian bowlers were smashed all around the park by Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer and captain Kieron Pollard.
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In the fielding department as well, India was far from impressive with Washington Sundar and Rohit Sharma dropping a few catches apart from numerous misfields and the hosts will look to quickly pull up their socks. On the other hand, the Windies will be desperate to bounce back and keep the series alive but for that, they will have to find a way to restrict the Indian batsmen.
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The weather is expected to be hot and humid as there will be a decent cloud cover and possible short spells of rain are not out of equation. The good thing though is that the stadium has a state-of-art system to absorb water. So, play shouldn’t halt for long even if it does. Citing another high-intensity game, here are some of the predictions for the game:
India
Even as the bowlers didn’t have a good outing, the team management might look to continue with the same combination. Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav’s wait on the bench might extend. And so might be the case for Sanju Samson. However, the hosts will also be expecting the like to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar to do well.
Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal
West Indies
The visitors might not be looking to make changes in the squad as they will need to execute their plans ina better way. However, Nicholas Pooran has served his four-match ban for ball-tampering and will be available for selection and He might replace. Citing the bowling conditions, Sheldon Contrell will need some apt support from other bowlers.
Predicted XI: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard (c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Hayden Walsh, Sheldon Cottrell
Fantasy XI
KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Virat Kohli (C), Evin Lewis, Shreyas Iyer, Kieron Pollard (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Sheldon Cottrell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal.
