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WELLINGTON : South Africa arrived in New Zealand on a high note after a hard-fought home series win over India, but a punishing defeat in their first test against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday served as a sobering reality check.
West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard expressed disappointment after his side got thrashed by India in the second T20I of the three-match series here at the Eden Gardens on Friday. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant's quality half-centuries were backed up by a spirited bowling performance at the death by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel as India defeated West Indies by eight runs in the second T20I. "He (Rovman Powell) was phenomenal today. His partnership with (Nicholas) Pooran almost got us over the line. We did well to take it as deep as we can. We can look at different ways as to how we could have gotten those eight runs. At the end of it, we can look at so many ways," said Pollard after the game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar said his plan in the slog overs of the second T20I was to back himself with the yorkers and despite the dew, he pulled it off to ensure a narrow eight-run win for his team. With West Indies needing 29 off the last two overs, Kumar took out Nicholas Pooran and conceded just four singles in the penultimate 19th over to give Harshal Patel 23 runs to defend, which he did to seal the T20I series in India's favour. "I was just believing in myself. Rohit told me that if I can give just 9-10 runs, it will be difficult for them, so I just backed myself with the yorkers. There was a bit of dew, but I still backed myself and it came out well," said Kumar to broadcasters 'Star Sports' after the match.
Sarfaraz Khan has made it difficult for the selectors to ignore him when they pick the squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka in the near future. Nothing — not even a pandemic which halted the Ranji Trophy for two years —seems to have put a brake on this unstoppable ‘run-machine’ who seems to be scoring ‘daddy hundreds’ in the tournament for fun. On Friday, Sarfaraz launched into the 2021-22 season in grand style, slamming a magnificent 275 (401b, 30x4, 7x6) to help Mumbai post a formidable 544 for seven declared against Saurashtra on Day Two of their Ranji Trophy Group D clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
India achieved the feat after defeating West Indies by eight runs in the second T20I of the three-match series here at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Apart from India, Pakistan is the only team to have won more than 100 T20Is. Pakistan have so far won 118 T20Is. Rohit Sharma is yet to lose a single game after becoming India's full-time captain.
It was a thrashing of epic proportions as the Proteas lost the first Test to New Zealand by an innings and 276 runs in Christchurch on Saturday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's form since his return from injury has often been questioned but India skipper Rohit Sharma "believes in him a lot" after the seamer bowled a brilliant penultimate over that helped the hosts win the second T20I against West Indies. Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded four runs in the 19th over as West Indies fell short by eight runs in an exciting finish. "You are always a bit scared when you are playing against these guys (West Indies power hitters). In the end, it was a phenomenal finish. Right from the start, we knew it wouldn't be easy. But I am proud we executed our plans under pressure. It was very critical at that point when Bhuvneshwar bowled," said Rohit at the post match presentation after series-sealing win. "That's where experience comes into play. Bhuvi has been doing it for many years and we believe in him a lot."
Virat Kohli would fare was the sub-plot of the second T20I match at the Eden Gardens here on Friday. The handful of spectators allowed at the venue went home happy as India sealed the three-match series, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead, and Kohli too showed glimpses of his vintage form to hit his 30th T20I half-century. West Indies, however, did put up a much-improved show and at one time looked like taking the match away. Nicholas Pooran, who played a lone hand in the last match on Wednesday, got an able partner in Rovman Powell as the duo stitched together a 60-ball 100-run third-wicket stand to put India under pressure.