India vs West Indies 2019, 2nd T20I: 3 reasons why West Indies won the match
West Indies came out all guns blazing and leveled the three match T20 series against India at Thiruvananthapuram. After restricting India to 170/7, the Windies batsmen showed positive intent and neutralized the Indian bowling; eventually, the ‘Men in Maroon’ romped home by 8 wickets with 9 balls to spare.
India batted first and posted a challenging total on the board, courtesy a blistering 30-ball 54 from Shivam Dube. But the visitors made easy work of the total by walloping the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground.
The Windies batsmen did not hold themselves back, and went after the bowling with spirit and disdain. India also did some favors to the opposition by dropping two catches and putting up a lackluster performance on the field.
This was a fearless display by a young bunch of talented West Indians. Beating India at home is a gargantuan task, but Kieron Pollard's men made it look fairly simple in the end.
On that note, let us look at three reasons why the West Indies triumphed over India in the second T20I.
#3 The reprieves to Simmons and Lewis
Lendl Simmons was on 6 when he skied a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery into the night sky. Washington Sundar got underneath it, but put down a straightforward chance. Simmons went on make 67* off just 45 balls, smashing the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground.
That was not all though. In the very same over, Evin Lewis got an edge that flew to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. The young keeper dived to his left, but as he hit the ground, the ball bounced off his hands.
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Lewis was on 16 at that time, and he went on to make 40 runs. The opening partnership between Simmons and Lewis was 73, and it was the start they provided that allowed the other batsmen coming in after them to carry on and finish the game off for the team.
If those two chances had been grabbed, the story might have been different.