Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 8: Lendl Simmons scored an unbeaten half-century and his opening partner Evin Lewis too continued his rich vein of form against India intact as West Indies hammered Team India by eight wickets in the second Twenty20 International here at the Greenfield Stadium on Sunday (December 8).
With this convincing win, the Men In Maroon have levelled the series and they will now face the Men In Blue in Mumbai for the third and deciding match on Wednesday (December 11).
Chasing a decent target of 171 in the stipulated 20 overs after their captain Kieron Pollard invited Indian captain Virat Kohli to bat first, West Indies openers Evin Lewis (40) and Simmons (67*) gave their team a brilliant start. The openers shared a partnership of 73 runs and gave their team the momentum in the run chase.
Shimron Hetmyer (23 off 14) and Nicolas Pooran (38* off 18) played their parts well as they attacked every Indian bowler, later in the innings and ensured the visitors do not fumble in the run chase. Simmons was awarded the man of the match for his match-winning knock.
Earlier, Shivam Dube (54) scored his maiden half-century while Rishabh Pant (33*) also played a good hand with the bat as India posted 170/7 batting first. Barring Pant and Dube, no Indian batsmen managed to attack Windies bowlers and kept losing their wickets at the wrong time which eventually prevented them from ending the innings with a flourish.
Shivam Dube slams maiden T20I fifty, Virat Kohli gets lauded for his masterstroke
Openers KL Rahul (11) and Rohit Sharma (15) failed to give the hosts a good start in the powerplay while Kohli (19), Shreyas Iyer (10) too were dismissed at the wrong time which prevented them from posting 20 to 25-plus runs.
Here's how the match panned out:
Simmons, Man of the Match: Like playing against India, it's a good challenge. Haven't played international cricket for a while, good to be back on the circuit, playing for the West Indies. Those guys can go at it from ball one, they have a different type of talent. I'm a bit old school. Take my time initially. I understand my game, understand my role in the team. My job in the powerplay is to go hard. Easier to bat outside the powerplay, knock the ball around and get the odd-boundary. Once you get in on that wicket, you can play your shots, and I just did that today.
Pollard: These things happen. Different circumstances have contributed to where we are (on the ICC table). Can't control the past. Guys came back very well in the field. The way we batted - the guys executed perfectly. Very excited for some of the guys who've come out of the CPL doing well. Some of those senior guys will be back, but excited for these guys. Kesrick bouncing back after the last game was fantastic. Continuing to enjoy my cricket. Can pass on the knowledge to these guys. Pride myself on being a leader. Every time I come on the cricket field, try to enjoy. Thing for us is to keep calm. There are areas to improve on. The wides, the no-balls.
Successfully chasing 170+ targets vs India:
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 8, 2019
West Indies - 3 times
All others - 5 times#IndvWI
Virat Kohli: Could say that (Stats showing batting first a problem). Numbers say a lot of things, and a lot of things that aren't there as well. You expect to get 40-45 in last four overs, not 30. Shivam's knock propelled us. If you field like that, no total is good enough. With the ball we were good, the first four overs. But if you drop chances, it's going to cost you. Fielding is something - we need to be more brave. We knew the pitch is going to help spinners, so we thought why not Shivam go up and attack the spinner. That was the plan, worked very well. It was one of those catches that just stuck. Committed to the ball, stretched both hands - last match I went with just one hand.
India does not look as classy and secure a team in T20 as it does in ODIs and Tests. In large part because the shortest format is the most unpredictable, but also because the right combo is still elusive
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) December 8, 2019
India in T20Is since Jan 2018: Batting 1st (16 matches): 8 wins & 8 losses Batting 2nd (18 matches): 14 wins & 3 losses (One NR)
Second T20I:
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) December 8, 2019
Dots: India 44, West Indies 44
Fours: India 12, West Indies 11
Sixes: India 5, West Indies 12
India had only one power-hitter today (Shivam Dube), West Indies had everyone who batted!#INDvWI
Done and dusted! Pooran hits the winning runs as West Indies pull off a sensational run chase with 9 balls to spare and they've hammered India by 8 wickets and level the series 1-1.
India need to prepare good bowling unit which can defend any target. #kulcha and bumrah will help the cause but need other bowlers to step up #worldcup2020 #INDvsWI
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 8, 2019
SIX!! Simmons hits a maximum and Windies now need just 3 from 12 deliveries.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls his final over. Pooran starts with a boundary, the Windies are toying with the Indian bowlers.
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
SIX!! Simmons hits Deepak Chahar for a maximum and brings the 150 for his team. West Indies are cruising in this run chase. They need 17 more runs to win.
Power Rating in the match
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) December 8, 2019
Overs 1-10
India - 125
West Indies - 127
Overs 11-20
India - 42
West Indies - 192
The effectiveness of the attacking shots as the ball has gotten older has been the key difference in the match so far.#INDvWI
Dropped! Another display of poor fielding from India, this time it's Shreyas Iyer who failed to take a regulation catch.
4, 0, 4, 2, 1, 4! 15 runs leaked by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and West Indies inch closer towards a series levelling-win. WI - 142/2 in 16 overs. 29 needed from 24 deliveries
Fifty up for Simmons.
Lendl Simmons v Leg Spinners in T20s
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) December 8, 2019
Facing the Leg Break - Average : 38.3, Scoring Rate - 9.38
Facing the Googly - Average : 10.8, Scoring Rate - 6.61
Attacking Simmons with a googly is a no-brainier for Chahal. He's got just one over left now.#INDvWI
0,1,0,6,1,6! 14 runs leaked by Chahal from that over as West Indies reach 127/2 in 15 overs. They need 44 off 30 deliveries with 8 wickets in hands.
SIX!!! Nicolas Pooran clears Chahal over the fence and gets a maximum.
Wicket! Terrific athleticism on display from the captain as he takes a stupendous running-catch near the boundary and Hetmyer has to depart for 23. WI - 112/2 in 13/.4 overs.
6,0,6! Hetmyer has decided to attack Jadeja. 12 runs have come in his first three deliveries.
8 runs conceded by Shivam Dube from his second over and West Indies reach 99 for 1. They need another 72 runs to win this game.
West Indies 91/1 after 12 overs. They need 80 runs from 48 deliveries with 9 wickets in hand
SIX!! Shimron Hetmyer pulls Ravindra Jadeja for a maximum. Brilliant shot from the left-hander.
10 runs came from the first over bowled by Shivam Dube and West Indies reach 83/1 in 11 overs.
Wicket! Washington Sundar strikes in his final over as he gets dangerous Evin Lewis (40) stumped by Rishabh Pant. Quick glovework from the wicketkeeper who put down a tough one earlier in the innings to give a breather to Lewis. WI - 73/1 in 9.5 overs.
Ati Sundar...Washington 🤗😇 https://t.co/evqgI9wDhN
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 8, 2019
West Indies reach 71 for no loss in 9 overs. They need another 100 runs from 11 overs.
8.3 - Four! Rare misfielding from Ravindra Jadeja at point and Simmons gets a boundary. 8.4 - SIX! Simmons hammers Chahal for a maximum on the very next delivery. Indian bowlers are searching for a breakthrough.
DRS lost! India go upstairs to review the LBW appeal against Lewis. The ball-tracking shows the ball was pitched outside off-stump.
SIX!!! Washington Sundar is being hammered by Lendl Simmons for a maximum, straight down the ground.
Brilliant start for West Indies in the powerplay as they are 41/0 in the run chase of 171.
SIX, SIX!! Evin Lewis is shifting gears now as he hammers Washington Sundar for a couple of biggies. Pressure on Sundar as he put down a sitter and gets hammered for sixes in his second over. WI - 41/0 after 6 overs.
DROPPED AGAIN!! This time Rishabh Pant dives to the left as he drops Lewis. Two dropped catches in Bhuvi's over and that will surely frustrate the bowler.
DROPPED! Washington Sundar fumbles once again as he drops Simmons catch!
Four, Four! Back-to-back boundaries from Lewis off Deepak Chahar.
Just 4 runs came from the first over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. West Indies reach 9/0 after 2 overs.