India vs West Indies: Indian bowlers managed to keep West Indian batters at bay to win the 2nd T20I by eight runs and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Chasing a stiff total of 187, West Indies had an underwhelming powerplay, scoring just 41 runs and losing Kyle Mayers. Brandon King struggled during his 30-ball-22 before Ravi Bishnoi got him out in the ninth over.
However, Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell joined hands to take the game from there. The duo smacked 100 runs in the next 60 balls to set up the game for West Indies. Pooran scored 62 off 41 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
West Indies were going well till the 19th over but Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a splendid penultimate over, giving away just four runs and removing Pooran.
Rovman Powell on the other end was playing a memorable inning, scoring an unbeaten 68 in 36 balls with the help of four fours and five sixes. But Powell couldn't help West Indies cross the line as they fell short of eight runs in the end.
Earlier, An explosive 76-run partnership between Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer helped India reach 186/5 in the first innings.
On being asked to bat first, India lost Ishan Kishan early but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma kept the attacking game on to score 49 runs inside the powerplay. Rohit scored 19 before getting out against Roston Chase, who also got Suryakumar Yadav in the next over.
Kohli continued to rotate the strike and reached his fifty but soon became the third victim of Chase. But then came Pant and Iyer at the crease. They joined to smash the West Indian bowling all around the Eden Gardens. Iyer scored 33 in 18 balls while Pant remained not out 52 off 28 balls.
Brief Scorecard:
India - 186/5
West Indies - 178/3