India bowlers rein in West Indies
FIGHTING BACK Mishra takes three, Ashwin completes 200 wickets in T20 cricket before second tie is abandoned
FORT LAUDERDALE, US: Left reeling by the aggressive West Indies batsmen in the first Twenty20 game they lost by a run, Indian bowlers found their feet to reel in their rivals in the second and final game on Sunday.
With most of the Indian squad chosen for this experimental twogame series coming straight from the Test series in the Caribbean, a lack of cohesion was evident on Saturday in what can be described as a new frontier for India.
However, West Indies were restricted to 143 all out as both the pacers and spinners combined to raise hopes of a victory to level the two-game series before thundershowers halted the game with India 15 for no loss. The game was later abandoned.
Leg spinner Amit Mishra came into the side and made a difference, taking a career-best 3/24. R Ashwin too claimed two wickets to become the first Indian bowler to take 200 wickets in Twenty20 cricket. The 29-year-old has taken 52 of them in T20 internationals.
The turnout was decent, but rain was always a concern. The World T20 champions, who had amassed the third highest T20 international total of 245 in the first game at the Central Broward Regional Park never really got going.
OLD PARTNERSHIP
Over the last season, there had been plenty of focus on the understanding between Ashwin and skipper MS Dhoni. But the old chemistry was evident as the spinner caught Lendl Simmons, charging out, with one wide outside leg and the stumping was completed without ado.
Six deliveries later, Ashwin had removed power-hitter Kieron Pollard too, trapped leg before playing back to one which didn’t turn as much as he thought it would.
Opener Evin Lewis, who hit a century on Saturday, was caught off Mohammed Shami before Mishra got the other opener, Johnson Charles, caught by Ajinkya Rahane at long-on.
West Indies crawled past the 100-run mark in the 14th over.
Dwayne Bravo’s bid to step up the scoring failed as he was beaten by a Mishra googly as he charged down the wicket.
New skipper Carlos Brathwaite (18) smashed a six and four off Mishra in the 18th over, but the spinner signed off by dismissing the big-hitter with his final delivery.
Shami ended the innings with two balls remaining by claiming Samuel Badree.