There will be a lot at stake in the second match and the pressure will be on India’s limited-overs skipper Dhoni.
Advertisement
With the century, the Karnataka batsman has now become the third Indian to score a century in all three formats of the game.
Virat Kohli was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher off Bravo for just 16 with the total on 48. Amit Mishra or Umesh Yadav might prove better with the ball at a small Central Broward Regional Park for Dhoni.
His unbeaten hundred could not help India get over the line but centurion Rahul said his side’s fighting spirit till the last ball of what could have been a world record chase, was a huge positive to draw from the one-run loss.
And Dhoni promptly sliced the final ball to short third man, sparking wild celebrations among a Windies team that now holds a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Cape Town – The decision to abandon the second T20 between the West Indies and India in Florida was met with contrasting opinions from the skippers, with Carlos Brathwaite saying the ground was unsafe, while MS Dhoni saying that it was fine. That task looked easy for Dhoni and Rahul but in the end it was not to be with both not being able to hit a boundary from the final six deliveries.
Despite, losing Charles, West Indies ended the powerplay at 54 for two.
Shami, who was recalled for his second spell, finally managed to bring the onslaught to a halt by removing Charles with a full length delivery that rocked his off-stump. The bowlers of West Indies need to show the fight, especially the spin twin of Narine and Badree if they want to whitewash India in t20 series.
Binny, who was introduced in the 11th over, was hit for five sixes by Lewis for a total of 32 runs, narrowly escaping the ignominy of giving away six sixes in an over.
They lost six wickets for 51 runs.
Andre Russell eked out 15 off 13 balls before he holed out off Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the score on 123.
The run rate during the 126-run stand between Johnson Charles and Lewis, the sixth highest for any century partnership in T20Is.
Despite his hundred, West Indies seemed set to lose the encounter after KL Rahul also carved out his maiden T20 worldwide hundred in scoring an unbeaten 110.
Advertisement
The second T20 of the two-match series might have ended up being a damp squib, as rain ruined India’s chances of levelling the series on Sunday, but MS Dhoni was still upbeat about playing in the USA, after a sizeable crowd came down to watch two of the biggest teams in Twenty20 cricket in action over the weekend.
