The duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer were absolutely brilliant in India’s 17-run win over West Indies in T20I series. While Suryakumar continued his magnificent form with the bat, Venkatesh showcased his promising allround capabilities to ensure another comprehensive win for their team.
Yadav blasted a 31-ball 65 to take the game away from the opposition in a six-wicket partnership with Iyer, who contributed a 19-ball 35 not out. The duo took India to an intimidating 184/5 despite being 98 for four at the end of the 15th over mark with an incredible end-overs assault against the hapless West Indies attack.
Suryakumar, especially, was in no mood for any form of respite to the visitors as he went on a six-hitting audition, sending the ball over the ropes seven times through his spectacular knock. At the other end, Venkatesh showcased another impressive finishing act in the series.
In the second half, the 27-year-old Madhya Pradesh cricketer also chipped in with an important spell of two for 23 off 2.1 overs. Asked to fill in for an injured Deepak Chahar, who went off the field near the completion of his second over, Venkatesh bagged the crucial wickets off Kieron Pollard (5) and Jason Holder (2).
Windies had another poor outing with the bat for the tour, going only as far as 167 for nine in the chase of 185. That also thanks largely to young left-hander Nicholas Pooran’s third half-century of the series (61 off 47). The next highest score for the innings was a 21-ball 29 from lower-order batter Romario Shephard at No.8. Losing regular wickets, including that of the in-form Rovmen Powell (25), came back to haunt the West Indians, who fell 17-run short at the end.
But their bowlers were equally responsible for another of their team’s painful defeats on the tour of India. After an encouraging start, where they held the Men in Blue to 98/4 with three-fourth of the innings over, they lost the plot completely and erred on both sides of the wicket. This allowed both Suryakumar and Venkatesh to free up their arms for short-pitched balls and get underneath the full ones to dispatch them over the boundary.
At one stage India looked like finishing with a score of 140-150, but West Indies’ horrendous execution with the ball in the last five overs meant they eventually made a score in excess of 180. From there, with a struggling batting unit, it was always an uphill task for the visitors. Despite India resting two of their key batters – Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant – and two bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal – they secured a T20I series whitewash.
Having secured an unassailable 2-0 lead, India opted to test their bench strength and gave a debut cap to pacer Avesh Khan and handed an opportunity to young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Selflessly, captain Rohit Sharma moved down the order to allow Gaikwad to bat at his most suited spot. The youngster didn’t quite make his opportunity count, though, scoring only four off eight balls. Avesh also struggled to get over his nerves and find his radar on the night, giving away 0 for 42 off his four overs.
But, apart from Venkatesh, Deepak (2/15), Harshal Patel (3/22), Ravi Bishnoi (0/29) also made life very difficult for the West Indies, who lacked a similarly collective effort with the ball, as only Roston Chase (1/23) and Holder (1/29) looked in control through their spells.
Brief scores
India 184/5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar 65, Venkatesh 35*; Chase 1/23) beat West Indies 167/9 in 20 overs (Pooran 61; Patel 3/22, Chahar 2/15) by 17 runs
