Pant, Kohli help India reach 186-5 against West Indies

Chasing their 100th T20I win, India, early on, were guided by Kohli who took charge of the proceedings after Roston Chase exposed the Indian middle order.

Kolkata:A responsible innings by former skipper Virat Kohli (52 runs off 41 balls) and late flourish by Rishabh Pant (52 off 28) and Venkatesh Iyer (33 from 18 deliveries) helped India fire their way to 186-5 against West Indies here in the second T20I at Eden Gardens.

For West Indies, Roston Chase dismissed three Indian batters.

India are leading the series 1-0.

Chasing their 100th T20I win, India, early on, were guided by Kohli who took charge of the proceedings after Roston Chase exposed the Indian middle order.

Kohli hit his 30th fifty in the shortest format, his first since the 57 versus Pakistan in the T20 World Cup on October 24 last year.

The former captain's sheer elegance was on full display as he cut, pulled and also took the aerial route en route to his 41-ball 52 that had seven fours and one six.

Luck also favoured Kohli on the day as the former skipper brought up his 30th T20I fifty with a slog over long-on after Jason Holder failed to get hold of the catch as the ball went over the boundary.

But Kohli failed to make it big and was cleaned up by Chase two balls later after the Windies off-spinner breached his gate for his third wicket.

Chase was impressive in the middle overs to return with 3/25 and which included the wickets of Rohit Sharma (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (8).

Thereafter it was Pant and Venkatesh Iyer (33 from 18 balls) show on offer as they took charge on the likes of Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd in their 76-run partnership from 35 balls.

Pant (52 off 28 balls) brought up his third fifty in T20Is with a double in the penultimate delivery of the innings, taking just 27 balls to get to the milestone.

Earlier India got off to a slow start with Sheldon Cottrell bowling four dots on the trot before dismissing Ishan Kishan in the second over of the day.

Kishan, who was the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction, looked listless and under pressure to continue his poor form and departed for two after his 10-ball stay.

But thereafter it was Kohli show at the sparsely-crowded Eden as the former India skipper delighted his fans with his elegant timing and strokeplay.

Getting off the mark with a boundary with a whip to the square leg boundary, Kohli found his timing early on and got a second boundary in the same over of Akeal Hossain.

Kohli was the aggressor and skipper Rohit was happy to play the second fiddle as the duo took India's score to almost 50 in the first six overs.

There was a clear shift in India's batting in the powerplay as the duo were not afraid to take the aerial route.

Rohit departed for 19 in 18 balls after a fine partnership with Kohli that yielded 49 runs from 36 balls before Chase gave the breakthrough in his first over removing the Indian skipper after inducing a thick leading edge to be caught at the point.

In his next over, Chase accounted for Suryakumar to expose India's middle over but Kohli ensured that there was no further damage.

Brief Scores:

India:186 for 5 in 20 overs. (Rishabh Pant 52 not out, Virat Kohli 52; Roston Chase 3/25).

With PTI