The Indian team suffered an 8-wicket loss against the West Indies in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Green Field Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram as the visitors chased down the total fo 171 with 9 balls to spare. After winning the toss, the Windies skipper, Kieron Pollard decided to bowl first. While, the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli made no changes in the squad, the visitors made one change as Nicholas Pooran came back to replace Dinesh Ramdin.
India had a forgettable start as they lost KL Rahul (11) quite early in the innings but then came, the young all-rounder Shivam Dube who smashed his maiden T20I fifty as he amassed 54 of 30 balls. However, he and Rishabh Pant were the lone warriors for India as he scored 33 of 22 as it was another failure of Shreyas Iyer (10) and Rohit Sharma (15).
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The Indian team kept on losing wickets in the middled over as despite being in a commanding position of 97/3 in the 11th over, the men in blue only managed to reach a total of 170 as they lost as many as 7 wickets. Kohli was the third highest scored as he scored 19 of 17 balls. For the Windies, Kesrcik Williams and Hayden Walsh took two wickets each.
During the chase, the Windies opener, Lendl Simmons (67*) and Evin Lewis (40) struggled in the start but they managed to amass 73 runs for the first wicket. Shimron Hetmyer (23) joined Simmons after the dismissal of Lewis in the 10th over. Simmons added 39 runs for the second wicket with Hetmyer and they were going great guns before the latter getting out in the 14th over of Ravindra Jadeja owing to the brilliant catch from Kohli.
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Despite Htemyer’s dismissal, the visitors didn’t have many issues in chasing down the total as the comeback man Nicholas Pooran played whirlwind innings of 18-ball 38 as the Windies chased down the total of 171 with 9 balls to spare and 8 wickets in hand. The final match of the series will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Brief scores:
West Indies – 173/2 in 18.3 overs (L Simmons: 67*, E Lewis: 40; W Sundar: 1/26) defeated India – 170/7 in 20 overs (S Dube: 54; K Williams: 2/30, H Walsh: 2/28) by 8 wickets and 9 balls to spare
Here is how Twitter reacted to India’s loss:
This guy Pooran 🤷🏼♂️.. ( special )
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) December 8, 2019
It's not so much this victory (though that is very important), but the way this west indies team is playing and the potential they seem to have that should please many fans.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) December 8, 2019
I thought the chase would be more difficult. Yes, the ball was a bit moist, but can't let that take away from an excellent West Indies run chase
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 8, 2019
That’s a solid win for West Indies, they beat India in a T20I after June 2017 #INDvsWI
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) December 8, 2019
SuperV @imVkohli #WhataCatch #whatAplayer #INDvsWI
— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) December 8, 2019
Outstanding chase by WI. Well played 👏👏Made difficult task look easy. Such fantastic potential and calibre, especially in batting! Should be top of ICC ranking in this format, not at the bottom, if they set their minds on it and develop self belief
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) December 8, 2019
Yes WI can! A thriller of a decider awaits! #WhistlePodu #INDvWI 🦁💛
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) December 8, 2019
Most consecutive T20I wins for India against an opponent:
8 v Bangladesh, 2009-18
7 v Australia, 2013-17
7 v Sri Lanka, 2016-17
7 v West Indies, 2018-19* (Ended today)#INDvWI— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) December 8, 2019
India needs to keep batting first and work a plan out. 73 of the last 10 changed the game. Should have been 200. Then things could have been diff. Chase has been worked out. Setting a total is the issue.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) December 8, 2019
For all the good work done by Bharat Arun with the bowlers in Tests, not quite reflecting in the blues. India without Bumrah look an ordinary bowling attack. Plenty to ponder imo
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) December 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/LavkeshMudgal/status/1203721804411334657
https://twitter.com/BaburaoApte0718/status/1203721761704960000
I like how Windies are playing responsible cricket in this series. Combine this composure with their usual power hitting, and you get a well performing team. Well done @windiescricket ! Congratulations on the win and for taking the series to a decider in Mumbai.#INDvsWI #INDvWI
— 𝓢angita 🇮🇳 (@sangitahermione) December 8, 2019
