By Brandon Corlette at Providence
Nicholas Pooran continued his purple patch with the bat with a scintillating 67 to help West Indies go 2-0 in the five-match T20I series against India.
In the match played at Providence under steaming sunshine, and watched by more than 2000 fans, West Indies encountered some hiccups in their chase of 153, but ended with a two-wicket win, heading into the third T20I at Providence on Tuesday.
In the chase of 153, West Indies lost Brandon King for a golden duck. Hardik Pandya continued his eventful over when he removed Johnson Charles caught at cover at 2-2. Nicholas Pooran came and survived a leg-before shout early and Kyle Mayers got another start but made only 15.
The home crowd was left in shock, as West Indies reached 32-3 in 3.4 overs. Pooran, who is in red-hot form, played some clean strokes and destroyed Ravi Bishnoi in an 18-run over. Pooran and Rovman Powell (21) added 57 runs together after the early collapse.
In the process, Pooran reached his fifty from 29 balls. A resounding applause from more than 2000 fans had the Stadium rocking as Shimron Hetmyer made an entrance. He survived a close call early in his innings, but he provided a supportive role to Pooran.
After playing six delight fours and four dismissive sixes, Pooran was dismissed for 67 from 40 balls. Pooran was caught at cover and West Indies were 126-5 with 27 needed from 36 balls, at that stage. The Pooran-wicket sparked a collapse leaving West Indies at 129-8 after 16 overs.
Akeal Hosein (16*) and Alzarri Joseph (10*) took West Indies across the line. Joseph broke the ice with a six in the penultimate over off Mukesh Kumar as West Indies won by eight wickets and seven balls to spare.
Pandya was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3-35 from his four overs.
Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, West Indies bowlers kept it tight and India reached 34-2 at the end of the powerplay. At the halfway stage, India were 65-3.
On the slow Providence surface, the West Indies seamers used cutters and slower balls to good effect. Twenty-year-old Tilak Varma starred for India with his maiden T20I 50, ending on 51 from 41 balls.
While it was not a dominant day for India, they managed 152-7 in 20 overs. Romario Shepherd, Joseph and Hosein ended with two wickets each.
The third T20I will be played at Providence on Tuesday from 10:30h local time.
