IND vs WI: I Can Finally Breathe Now - Nicholas Pooran After West Indies' Five-Wicket Win In 2nd T20I

West Indies won the second T20I but not without the fumble in a 139-run chase, at a point, it looked like the match was out of their control. A phenomenal bowling performance from Obed McCoy – 6 for 17 – the best bowling figures by a West Indies bowler in T20Is, helped them to bowl out India for 138 in the first innings.

I can finally breathe now: Nicholas Pooran

The Indian bowlers, however, bowled tightly to put the Windies batters under the pressure. At one point, the equation was 75 off 72 balls required, with nine wickets in hand. It later went down to 27 off 18, where the hosts lost three more wickets in the process. Arshdeep Singh dismissing the power-hitter Rovman Powell in the penultimate over added another blow for their chase.

The equation read 10 runs needed in the last six deliveries and Indian pacer Avesh Khan bowling a no-ball gave the Windies a leeway. Devon Thomas capitalised on the free hit and dispatched the ball over extra cover for a six. Thomas followed it with a boundary to finish the game and levelled the series 1-1.

“I can finally breathe now. It has been a tough summer for us. We lost a few close games and nearly made a mess of this as well. Obed was fantastic and all the guys just used the pitch and the conditions well,” West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran said in the post-match presentation. 

We need to take more responsibility with the bat: Nicholas Pooran

The big names like Pooran (14), Shimron Hetmyer (6) and Powell (5) failed to make any significant contribution to the chase. Pooran admitted that experienced players like him and Hetmyer need to take responsibility for the bat. The West Indies skipper appreciated Brandon King, the architect of the chase for his 52-ball 68, and Thomas for taking the team past the finishing line.

“A win is a win. I believe in T20, better batsmen have to bat long. Myself, Hetmyer can take more responsibility. King should have won the game for us with the way he was batting. But hopefully, he will learn from this,” Pooran said. 

“Thomas returned back for us after injury and came out trumps on his home ground. Obed is a bit of a freak and today he was just fantastic.

“He just kept picking up wickets for us. He said he would bowl full and straight on the stumps to Dinesh Karthik and it worked. Lovely to have him in the team and have that left-arm action for us,” the West Indies skipper added.

The third T20I match will be played on Tuesday (August 2) at Warner Park in St Kitts.

Also Read: IND vs WI: I Think This Is The Worst Performance – Nicholas Pooran On Defeat In 1st T20I