Sight to behold: King Kohli, ‘Pantastic’ Rishabh shine

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel produced superb bowling in slog overs as India survived some anxious moments before walking out with an eight-run win over West Indies in the second T20I that handed them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series on Friday. Chasing a stiff 187, wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran (62 off 41 balls) and Rovman Powell (68 not out from 36 balls) hit belligerent fifties to keep them in the hunt as they needed just 29 runs from the last two overs.

But death bowling specialist, Bhuvneshwar Kumar revived India’s hopes by removing the dangerous-looking Pooran with a slower off-cutter. Under pressure after he dropped Rovman Powell off his own bowling, Bhuvneshwar was brilliant and conceded just four runs in the over. Needing to defend 25 in the final over, Patel was hit for two consecutive sixes but he held his nerves to seal the issue for India.

Wicketkeeper-batter Pooran continued his impressive form to smash a second successive half-century, while Powell gave a fine support at the other end with a 28-ball 50 as the Windies recovered from being 59/3 inside nine overs.

Dropped on 21 by Bishnoi in the 10th over, Pooran brought up his fifty in 34 balls -- his second in as many games -- with a slog over off Deepak Chahar’s final over.

Powell then completed a 28-ball fifty as India looked under real pressure before Bhuvneshwar turned it around.

Chase was impressive in the middle overs to return with 3/25 and which included the wickets of Rohit Sharma (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (8).

Thereafter it was Pant and Venkatesh Iyer (33 from 18 balls) show on offer as they took charge on the likes of Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd in their 76-run partnership from 35 balls.

Kishan, who was the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction, looked listless and under pressure to continue his poor form and departed for two after his 10-ball stay.

But thereafter it was Kohli show at the sparsely-crowded Eden as the former India skipper delighted his fans with his elegant timing and strokeplay.

Glimpses of ‘Vintage Virat’
Getting off the mark with a boundary with a whip to the square leg boundary, Kohli found his timing early on and got a second boundary in the same over of Akeal Hossain. Kohli’s 52 off 41 balls had seven fours and a six and a welcome return to form after a dry spell of four games. “I was happy with my intent that I wanted to play my shots. Sometimes when you play with responsibility over a period of time, you tend to ask (yourself) if you want to play the big shots early,” the former India captain said.

India win 100th T20I
India completed 100 T20I wins with the victory and became the second country, after Pakistan, to reach the milestone.

Experience comes into play: Rohit on Bhuvi’s four-run 19th over
“Bhuvi has been doing it for many years and we believe in him a lot,” said Rohit.

Scoreboard
India Innings
Rohit S c King b Chase 19
Ishan c Mayers b Cottrell 2
Kohli b Chase 52
Suryakumar c and b Chase 8
Rishabh not out 52
Venkatesh b Shepherd 33
Harshal not out 1

Extras: (B-5, LB-3, NB-2, WD-9) 19
Total: (For 5 wickets in 20 overs) 186
Fall of Wickets: 1-10, 2-59, 3-72, 4-106, 5-182.
Bowlers: Akeal Hosein 4-0-30-0, Sheldon Cottrell 3-1-20-1, Jason Holder 4-0-45-0, Romario Shepherd 3-0-34-1, Roston Chase 4-0-25-3, Odean Smith 1-0-10-0, Kieron Pollard 1-0-14-0.

WI Innings
Brandon King c Yadav b Ravi Bishnoi 22
Kyle Mayers c & b Chahal 9
Nicholas Pooran † c Ravi Bishnoi b Kumar 62
Rovman Powell not out 68
Kieron Pollard (c) not out 3

Extras: (lb 2, w 12) 14
Total: (20 Ov, RR: 8.90) 178/3
Fall of Wickets: 1-34, 2-59 , 3-159
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4 -0- 29 -1, Deepak Chahar 4- 0 -40, Yuzvendra Chahal 4 -0 -31 -1, Harshal Patel 4- 0- 46- 0, Ravi Bishnoi 4- 0 -30- 1.

Result: India won by 8 runs.
Player of the match: Rishabh Pant (52* off 28 balls)