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Dominant India eye another series win over Windies

November 05, 2018 13:43 IST

West Indies, on the other hand, would be desperate to return home with some positivity at the end of a two-month long series in which they have lost both the Test and ODI series.

IMAGE: India's players celebrate a wicket during the first T20 International against West Indies. Photograph: PTI

The misery seems like never-ending for the West Indies and India would look to ensure that the script doesn't change when the two sides clash in the second Twenty20 International in Lucknow on Tuesday.

India's four-match losing streak in T20 Internationals against the West Indies ended on Sunday in Kolkata as they claimed a five-wicket win in the three-match T20I series opener. And in the penultimate game of what has been a disastrous tour for the visitors, India would be favourites to lock the series in their favour.

 

India's previous victory in a T20 match against the West Indies before Sunday's match came way back on March 23, 2014 in the World T20 in Bangladesh.

With the win at the Eden Gardens, India managed to better their head-to-head record against the reigning World T20 champions to 5-3 now from nine exchanges between 2009 and 2017.

The five-wicket win in Kolkata might have looked a bit laboured for the hosts but the absence of batting talisman and captain Virat Kohli cannot be discounted.

It was also the first T20 International for which India dropped Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the colossus whose batting form has been on the wane but the cricketing brain and reflexes behind the stumps remain assets for the team.

Rohit Sharma is leading the side in Kohli's absence and the 31-year-old usually thrives with the additional responsibility of captaincy.

But Sunday was a rare failure for the Mumbai right-hander and he would look to make up for that with a big knock on Tuesday

Besides Rohit, opener Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, the young Rishabh Pant, and Manish Pandey also had a bad day in office in the series-opener.

It took a responsible 34-ball 31 from Dinesh Karthik and a nine-ball 21-run unbeaten cameo from debutant Krunal Pandya to steer India home in 17.5 overs.

IMAGE: West Indies fast bowler Oshane Thomas, right, celebrates taking a wicket. Photograph: PTI

But on Tuesday, Lucknow, which is hosting its first international match at the newly-built Ekana Stadium, would be eager to see a more dominant performance from the home team, one that's befitting the gulf in quality between the two sides.

On the bowling front, left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav stole the limelight with brilliant figures of 3/13 from his four overs, while left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed (1/16) and Pandya (1/15) were economical.

Pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar will the experienced pace duo of Umesh Yadav (1/36) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/27) would aim for a much better show in front of his home fans in Lucknow.

West Indies, on the other hand, would be desperate to return home with some positivity at the end of a two-month long series in which they have lost both the Test and ODI series.

While two-Test series was lost 0-2 in just six days of action, they posed some challenge in the subsequent ODI series before being thrashed 1-3 with a nine-wicket loss in Thiruvananthapuram in the fifth and final one-dayer.

The return of big names such as Kieran Pollard and Darren Bravo failed to make any significant impact as West Indies produced a below-par batting effort in the first match.

All-rounder Andre Russell's injury, which ruled him out of the series, has also dented their chances.

Carlos Braithwaite (2/11) was impressive with the ball but the skipper also needs to inspire his team with some significant contributions with the bat.

Young pacer Oshane Thomas (2/21), who made his debut in Kolkata, troubled the Indian openers with his pace upfront but he needs support from the likes of Keemo Paul and others.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik (w/k), Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, K Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem.

West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Obed McCoy, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin (w/k), Sherfane Rutherford, Oshane Thomas.

Match starts 7 pm IST.

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