India Wins 2nd match against West Indies in T20 Cricket Championship

Mirpur,23 March-2014,Shazida Khatun: India lost Dhawan early in the first over chasing 130 runs. But Rohit and Virat Kohli did not waste too much of a time before they started to play the big shots. India were 48/1 by the end of powerplay overs and finally India wins the match.

India Wins 2nd match against West Indies in T20 Cricket Championship

Any of the West Indies failed to trouble the pair of Rohit and Kohli. By the end of 11 overs, India were 80/1, 50 runs away from the victory.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies. MS Dhoni made no changes in the team that beat Pakistan in the previous game. West Indies started off slowly with Dwayne Smith failing to pick which way the ball was swinging. Gayle was watchful before he launched into attack in Mohammad Shami’s second over.

Dwayne Smith inning came to an end when Ashwin took a neat catch on his bowling. Gayle and Samuels added a few runs. But West Indies’ inning fail to take off. Then, Gayle was run-out in the 13th over by Mohammad Shami. Samuels and Dwayne Bravo then got out on back to back deliveries in Mishra in the 15thover of the inning. West Indies were 74/4 then.

West Indies eventually managed to put up 130 runs in their 20 overs thanks to a 22-run last over.

After comprehensively beating their arch-rivals, India will face West Indies in their second tie in ICC World T20 2014 today. Indian bowlers punched above their weight and put up an impressive show in their last game against Pakistan. Dhoni would be hoping that his spin trio — Ashwin, Mishra and Jadeja — do the same in India’s second game in Super 10.

India’s batsmen, barring Yuvraj Singh did enough against Pakistan to maintain their place in the playing XI for the game against West Indies. So, it won’t be too surprising if Dhoni does not make any changes in the team for this game.

For the defending champions West Indies, this will be their first game in this edition of ICC World T20.

West Indies outplayed Sri Lanka in their warm-up game with Dwayne Smith and Sunil Narine leading the charge in batting and bowling respectively. And captain Darren Sammy will expect the same kind of performance against India to spoil India’s plans to gain ascendancy.

The two sides have played three T20s against each-other, two games in ICC World T20 and a one-off game that was played at Port of Spain in 2011. While India have beaten West Indies in their last T20 game, the Carribeans have won on both the occasions when they faced India in ICC World T20.

While this tie will be high on flare with so many power hitters on both sides, the game is not short on substance either.

For India, if they win this game, they would raise their chances (and fans’ hopes) to reach the semi-final in the tournament; something that they have failed to do in 2009, 2010 and 2012 editions of ICC World T20.

The win will also level India’s overall win-loss record (2-2) against West Indies in T2Os. It would also improve India’s record against the team from the Caribbean in ICC World T20.

West Indies are coming into this tournament as the defending champions. And the win in this game will be a first step as they intend to retain the title. If West Indies beat India, they will further better their record against India in ICC World T2O.