Pooran steers West Indies to two-wicket win over India

An explosive half-century by Nicholas Pooran defied a brilliant power-play spell by Indian skipper Hardik Pandya as the hosts West Indies secured a hard-fought two-wicket win over the Men in Blue in the second T20I of the five-match series at Guyana on Sunday.

Providence (Guyana):Nicholas Pooran smashed his way to a scintillating half-century before West Indies overcame some anxious moments to hand India a two-wicket defeat in the second T20I here on Sunday. Opting to bat, the fearless Tilak Varma continued his good run in the shortest format and produced a well-calculated fifty to take India to 152 for seven.

Pooran then blazed away to 67 from 40 balls to put his side on course for what seemed like a comfortable win. But Yuzvendra Chahal (2/19) bowled a sensational 16th over and brought India back in the game and the hosts suddenly looked under tremendous pressure. However, Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph shared an unbeaten 26-run partnership to help the West Indies complete the task with seven balls to spare and give them a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Indian captain Hardik Pandya may have missed a trick by not bowling Chahal in the crucial 19th over, with the West Indies needing 12 runs off as many balls. Hosein (2/29) and Joseph (2/28) also starred with the ball along with Romario Shepherd (2/28), sharing six wickets amongst themselves. For the visitors, the 20-year-old Varma scooped, swept and heaved the ball all around the ground to score 51 off 41 balls, becoming the youngest Indian to score a fifty in T20 Internationals.

Deciding to take the new ball, Pandya bowled a fiery first over that yielded India the wickets of opener Brandon King (0) and Johnson Charles (2). Hardik swung the ball outside off for King to hit a cover drive only for Suryakumar Yadav to complete a spectacular catch off the very first ball of the innings. Charles then fell victim to another swinging delivery by Hardik as the hosts were dealt a double blow at the start of their innings.

But star batter Pooran was unperturbed as he tonked Hardik for a six before slashing one for a boundary. The big-hitting Kyle Mayers (15) joined his partner as he hit a couple of boundaries and a six before Arshdeep Singh trapped him leg before. Pooran continued with his counter-attacking ways as he collected 18 runs in the next over. The flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter got those runs off leggie Ravi Bishnoi, that included a massive six over long-on.

Earlier, coming out to bat with India in a spot of bother at 18/2, Varma put up a crucial 42-run partnership with Ishan Kishan (27) before joining forces with skipper Hardik Pandya to stitch a 38-run stand. Hardik (24) tried to inflate India's total by hitting two sixes but Alzarri Joseph (2/28) produced a cracking yorker to get rid of the Indian skipper. Opting to bat, the script didn't go as per plan for the visitors as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

West Indies skipper Rovman Powell kept shuffling his bowlers, a move that paid dividends. Kishan (27) played a few shots in his 23-ball stay including a six off Akeal Hosein (2/29) over deep square leg but couldn't convert his start into a meaningful innings as he was bowled by Romario Shepherd. Shubman Gill's (7) stay in the middle was once again a brief one. With pressure building on him after successive dot balls, he showed his class by sending the ball for a maximum in the third over but perished in the very next ball off Joseph.

Suryakumar Yadav (1) didn't last long either, as Kyle Mayers at square leg effected the Indian vice-captain's run-out with a brilliant direct hit. Sanju Samson (7) moved way to early down the track in search of a big shot and was stumped by an attentive Nicholas Pooran.

Teams:
West Indies: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy.
India:Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi. (PTI)