India vs West Indies 2019: Lendl Simmons powers visitors to comprehensive victory

West Indies opener Lendl Simmons cracked an unbeaten 67 to guide his side to a heartening series-leveling victory in Trivandrum. Having restricted India to 170 with a clinical bowling display, the visitors cruised in the run-chase, knocking off the target with eight wickets and nine balls to spare.

Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to bowl first. Contrary to expectations, the surface appeared dry, making power-hitting quite difficult. Sheldon Cottrell managed to build the pressure initially despite conceding a few wides down the leg side.

The Dube assault

Looking to break the shackles, KL Rahul attempted a hoick but ended up chipping the ball to backward square leg off Khary Pierre's bowling. India promoted Shivam Dube to number three to counter the left-arm tweaker. The tactic paid off as Dube unleashed his full range of strokes.

At the other end, Jason Holder terminated Rohit Sharma's presence at the crease, while Dube continued his assault, bludgeoning his maiden T20I half-century. The flamboyant southpaw eventually perished to leggie Hayden Walsh though, slicing a flipper to extra cover.

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Windies grab the initiative

Kesrick Williams redeemed himself by removing Virat Kohli, who lobbed a sitter to third man. Rishabh Pant silenced his doubters, albeit briefly, by producing a quickfire 33*. However, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar couldn't provide the late flourish as India mustered only 26 runs off the last four overs.

Sloppy India rue fielding lapses

Kick-starting the Windies chase, Evin Lewis provided the initial burst, sending Yuzvendra Chahal's gentle offerings to the boundary. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was denied a couple of wickets early on, with Washington Sundar and Rishabh Pant shelling easy chances. The openers capitalized on their astonishing luck, hammering maximums to seize the initiative.

Floodgates open

Washington Sundar eventually provided the breakthrough for India, deceiving Lewis with his flight and having him stumped. However, Simmons and then Shimron Hetmyer continued to wreak havoc, unfurling nonchalant whips towards mid-wicket and brutal slogs down the ground.

Kohli plucked an absolute blinder to remove Hetmyer, but Nicholas Pooran arrived at the crease and polished off the remaining runs quickly.

That will be all from the 2nd T20I. 1-1 and the stage is set for the decider in Mumbai #TeamIndia #INDvWI @Paytm pic.twitter.com/tbt5RwYl9c

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2019