IND vs WI, 2nd T20I: Nicholas Pooran Guides West Indies To 2-0 Lead Over India In Five-Match Series

06.08.2023 - 18:41 sports.ndtv.com

An explosive half-century by Nicholas Pooran defied a brilliant power-play spell by Indian skipper Hardik Pandya and some brilliant bowling in death overs 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.

India trails by 2-0 in the series. In the chase of 152, West Indies was off to a nightmarish start when Hardik Pandya got rid of Brandon King (0) and Johnson Charles (2) in the first over itself.

WI was restricted to 2/2 in the first over itself. Suryakumar took a stunner of a catch to dismiss King while Charles was caught by Tilak Varma at cover point.

Kyle Mayers joined forces with Nicholas Pooran to rebuild the Windies innings. In the third over, Pooran smashed Pandya for 17 runs, including two fours and a six.

cricket India Cricket Team West Indies Cricket Team FIVE West Indies Ravi Bishnoi Nicholas Pooran Hardik Pandya Rovman Powell Kyle Mayers Alzarri Joseph Tilak Varma India Guyana

Indian batsmen and bowlers were immense in their roles while giving their team a 33-run win in the second T20I and an inviolable 2-0 series lead over Ireland in Dublin on Sunday. Once India erected a strong 185 for 5 after being asked to bat first, Ireland felt the heat while chasing and they were restricted to 152 for 8 despite a 51-ball-72 by Andrew Balbirnie. India had won the rain-marred first T20I by two runs under the DLS method. Fine hands by Gaikwad (58, 43 balls, 6x4, 1x6), Sanju Samson (40, 26 balls, 5x4 1x6) and Rinku Singh (38, 21 balls, 2x4, 3x6) moulded India's charge with the bat.

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