IND vs WI Man of the Match: The stand-in Indian vice-captain won his maiden T20I Man of the Match award in his 43 match.
Advertisement
During the second T20I of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of India in Kolkata, India beat West Indies by 8 runs in a thrilling contest. Having gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in a three-match series, India successfully prevented West Indies from winning their first match of the tour.
Chasing a 187-run target, West Indies remained in the chase for a large part of their innings. Despite opening batters Brandon King (22) and Kyle Mayers (9) scoring a combined total of 31 runs off 40 balls, a 100-run partnership for the third wicket between Nicholas Pooran (62) and Rovman Powell (68*) turned the tables in the middle overs.
Needing 53 runs in the last four overs, Pooran and Powell hit a six each against Deepak Chahar to reduce the equation to 37 runs off three overs. However, Pooran’s dismissal in the penultimate over hurt the visitors.
The situation eventually came down to West Indies requiring 23 runs off four deliveries. Not giving up on the chase, Powell did hit a couple of gargantuan sixes but a run off the penultimate delivery of the match threw West Indies into an improbable situation.
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal picked a wicket apiece at the Eden Gardens tonight. What was all the more important in addition to them picking a wicket was Kumar, Bishnoi and Chahal conceding 29, 30, 31 runs respectively.
IND vs WI Man of the Match today
Asked to bat first by West Indies captain Kieron Pollard (3*), India recovered quite well from 106/4 to put on board 186/5 in 20 overs. It was a 35-ball 76-run partnership for the fifth wicket between vice-captain Rishabh Pant (52*) and all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (33) which powered India to a match-winning total.
Coming in to bat at No. 5 at the halfway mark, Pant’s third T20I half-century was the need of the hour for him personally. A responsible knock at a strike rate of 185.71 in a tough situation spoke highly of what Pant’s skills on his day.
“As long as the team wants me to bat anywhere, I am fine. I don’t mind playing the situation and not only at the death. The only thing we [Pant and Iyer] were talking was we will play according to every ball. It is never easy to play every game but this is what I have always wanted to do,” Pant told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
