India’s got defeat by the West Indies, with a lack of lower-order batting power and a disappointing bowling performance playing a role in Sunday’s result in Florida. But don’t take anything away from Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King, the creators of a fantastic chase.
The partnership put up 107 runs in 72 balls for the second wicket and prevented India from getting a foot in the door. What appeared to be a difficult chase at first transformed into a saunter, with West Indies eventually finishing with 12 balls to spare to win their second straight T20I series and their first against India since 2017.
West Indies lost Kyle Mayers to Arshdeep Singh in the second over, but it only motivated them to work harder in the rainy weather that prompted both teams to keep one eye on the DLS sheet.
Cramped for space and smacked on the ribs by a short delivery second ball, Pooran provided the ideal response when he muscled Arshdeep over deep midwicket off the fourth ball he faced. Pooran then had a stroke of luck when he was almost pouched by a diving Mukesh Kumar at mid-off in the third over of the innings, and he took full advantage by pummeling Hardik Pandya for back-to-back sixes soon after.
India’s decision to play six bowlers (including Hardik), which carries the danger of their batting dropping off fast down the order, appeared to be expressly geared to counter situations like these. However, today, against Pooran in particular, you questioned whether they were making a tactical error.
Mukesh Kumar’s bowling strength is his ability to swing it with the new ball. He only bowled one over in the first ten overs today (the tenth). Axar Patel was given only one over (the 15th, with West Indies requiring 42 from 36), and Yuzvendra Chahal, who was possibly at his lowest point in terms of confidence, was called on in the powerplay – that over went for 14, with King welcoming him with a huge hit against the turn for six.
Tilak and India’s third-wicket duo had combined 49 runs in five overs to propel the innings into fourth gear before Roston Chase’s brilliance took Tilak out. What appeared to be an ordinary drive for a single became lethal when Chase, in his follow-through, sprinted to his right and made a full-length dive to collect the ball before belting out a belated appeal. It appeared to be a mandatory check for a bump ball (Chase’s teammates had not even appealed), but it proved to be much more than that: wild fist bumping ensued in the West Indies camp when replays confirmed Tilak had lobbed the ball straight off the bat, and his cameo was nipped in the bud.
Hardik fell shortly after the restart when he picked out a delivery long-on after smacking Shepherd over the long-off boundary. Suryakumar followed in the next over as West Indies used the DRS to overturn a not-out lbw ruling. The lower order just unravelled from there; a lucky boundary from the last man Mukesh (edged past the keeper) reduced India to 165 when they had looked good for 190 at one stage. The way the chase unfolded, even that might not have been enough.
