WI vs IND: 2nd T20I Review – Obed McCoy floors India in St Kitts
The West Indies beat India by five wickets in the second T20I at the Warner Park Basseterre in St Kitts on Monday, August 1. The victory has helped the hosts in levelling the five-match series 1-1. The Indian team had themselves to blame for not giving the ball to an in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the final over to defend 10 runs. However, West Indies were always the favourites to win after bundling India out for 138 runs.
Windies skipper Nicholas Pooran won the toss and decided to bowl first. The move was indeed a right one after a long rain delay as left-arm pacer Obed McCoy wreaked havoc and left the Indian batters distraught. The Men in Blue lost their top-order for just 61 runs on the board in the seventh over. The situation could have been far worse had it not been for Hardik Pandya’s run-a-ball 31 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 27 which took India to 138.
The hosts in reply got off to a flying start chasing a paltry score with Brandon King and Kyle Mayers adding 46 runs for the opening stand. While Windies top-order batters lost wickets from one end, King held on firmly from the other and anchored the chase.
Emerging pacer Arshdeep Singh had bowled a tight penultimate over by conceding just six runs and picking up the big wicket of Rovman Powell and the Windies had just 10 runs to get from the final over. They got the job done when Devon Thomas smashed Avesh Khan for a four and a six off the first two deliveries.
Top performers of the game
Obed McCoy
Obed McCoy became the latest left-arm pacer to trouble the Indian batters with his outstanding bowling performance. He was spot on right from the word ‘go’ and dismissed the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to finish with figures of 6/17 from his four overs at an economy of 4.3 including a maiden.
Brandon King
Brandon King held on to his nerves when the West Indies lost quick wickets in a manageable chase of 139. Opening the innings, he laid a solid foundation for his side scoring 68 runs from 52 deliveries at a strike rate of 130.8. His brave knock helped the West Indies in levelling the T20I series.
What’s next for both sides?
With the series tied at 1-1, both teams hardly have any time to recover and they would be back in action within the blink of an eye. West Indies and India will be locking horns in the third T20I at the very same venue on Tuesday, August 2.
