India sealed the T20I series in Lauderhill to throw open the possibility of experimenting when the two sides meet in the third and final match in Guyana on Tuesday.
Unlike Saturday where both sides scrapped on a sluggish surface, this was a more even contest, India throwing more punches with the bat to clinch a seesaw battle brought to an end by streaks of lightning.
Rohit Sharma’s contribution – a 51-ball 67 – left the biggest mark on the game; an innings where he once again showed T20 batting was as much about timing and finesse as it is about the big hits. His sparkle allowed India some legroom despite a middle-order wobble.
A blaze of sixes towards the end from Krunal Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja lifted them to 167 for 5, which looked good enough for the first six overs of West Indies’ chase. Then, Rovman Powell announced himself as India’s bowlers briefly switched off.
He raised a 30-ball half-century to keep West Indies in the hunt, even as Nicholas Pooran’s struggle for timing proved to be an obstacle. Then they lost both Pooran and Powell in the same over to Krunal. This double-strike not only set West Indies back momentarily but despite Kieron Pollard’s presence, it threw them 22 runs behind the DLS par score when lightning stopped play with the score on 98 for 4 in 15.3 overs in Florida.
Summarized scores India 167 for 5 (Rohit 67, Cottrell 2-25, Thomas 2-27) beat West Indies 98 for 4 (Powell 54, Krunal 2-23) by 22 runs (DLS method)
