Nicholas Pooran scored a brilliant fifty-two to help the West Indies beat India by two goals in the 2nd T20I of the current five-game series at the Provincial Stadium in Guyana on Sunday, August 6. The home side used Pooran's formidable hit to chase a tough target 153 times comfortably late in the game despite several misfires throughout the chase.
The West Indies made a terrifying start to the chase, losing two of the first four balls from the head to Hardik Pandya. The Indian captain put his team in a quandary when he threw Brandon King half a fly on the back of a duck in an unprecedented first game in the West Indies before cheaply shooting Johnson Charles in the following two three-ball runs to shock the home team with a score of 2/2.
With a bit of twist done in the box, Indian rider Arshdeep Singh also enjoyed bowling with the red ball as he made it difficult for West Indian hitters. Arshdeep sent the packed Kyle Mayers on 15/7 to trap him lbw in the 4th half to cause more misery for the home team as they were already downscaled to 32/3. However, Pooran later teamed up with Captain Rovan Powell to help the West Indies launch a response.
Continuing his scorching run, Pooran broke a fast 67 ball with just 40 balls combined with six fours and four sixes. Southpaw went bowling with Indian pitchers and brutally treated his IPL teammate Ravi Bishnoi, kicking him all over the park. He shared a key spot in 57 runs for the fourth racket with captain Powell, who scored 21 points from 19 to save his team from trouble after an unstable start. Pooran then combined with Shimron Hetmyer (22) to add another big 37 for a 5th racket as the pair moved closer to victory. However, the chase in the West Indies went a bit off track after Pooran was fired as they went from 126/5 to 129/8 in an instant with Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd starting with the Ducks.
Still, trailblazers Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph played helpful cameos and shared a 26-match unbeaten run for the 9th to get the West Indies comfortably over the line.
Before that, India was once again disappointed with the stick when they were only able to get a moderate total of 152/7 in 20 rounds. The terrifying run for half-flyer Shubman Gill continued in the lead as he was cheaply fired on the 7th before Suryakumar Yadav left on the 1st. Sanju Samson was again unable to deliver as he was fired 7 times while Axar Patel was only able to make 14 out of 12 deliveries.
It was young player Tilak Varma who impressed once again under pressure in his only 2nd appearance for India. The youngster achieved his first T20I of fifty when he scored a precious 51-pointer and teamed up with captain Hardik Pandya (24) to guide the team into a team fight. However, his efforts were in vain as India fell into a losing position.
