IND vs WI: West Indies Were Beaten By Mind By Bhuvneshwar Kumar And Harshal Patel In Final Two Overs: Ajay Jadeja

Former Indian player Ajay Jadeja said West Indies were mentally defeated in the final two overs of the second T20I match against India on Friday.

India eked out West Indies in an eight-run win in the second T20I match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Rohit Sharma-led side clinched the T20I series with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

India beat West Indies by eight runs in the second T20I

India posted 186/5 in the first innings after Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, who failed to score runs in the first match, returned with brisk half-centuries. Pant remained unbeaten on 52 from 28 balls and was involved in a partnership of 76 runs from 35 balls with Venkatesh Iyer who made 33 off 18 balls.

Chasing 187, the visitors had a rusty start as openers Brandon King and Kyle Mayers failed to captivate in the PowerPlay overs.

West Indies were 59 for 2 at 8.3 overs before wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell smashed Indian bowlers around the park to remain in the chase.

Pooran brought up his seventh T20 International 50-plus score with a six over a long leg to Deepak Chahar in the 17th over.

West Indies needed 37 runs from the last three overs with India having two crucial overs of Harshal Patel. The Haryana pacer conceded just eight runs in the 18th over followed by an impressive four-run over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar where he dismissed Pooran.

As the equation dropped to 23 from four balls, Powell hammered consecutive sixes to Harshal to put the pressure back on the hosts. Harshal executed a slower ball, pitching full and outside off as the West Indies power-hitter could just find a single at long-on.

Ajay Jadeja impressed with Harshal Patel’s slower ball in the final over

Jadeja credited the Indian bowlers for their valiant efforts while bowling in the slog overs and mentioned Harshal for executing the slower ball against Powell. 

“I don’t think they lost this game because they panicked or something went wrong. It’s just that, the way they were calculating, they were beaten by mind by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 19th over and then [by] that final slower one that Harshal Patel bowled,” Jadeja told Cricbuzz. 

“You need guts. It’s almost like a spinner right. When you bowl that ball slower, you are not giving somebody the pace to guide you for four but you give them the chance to hit you for a six. So are you ready to play that game, take that chance saying, ‘I don’t think you can strike me every time. I will beat you’. That’s the mindset that I saw today,” he added. 

The win against West Indies was also the 100th win for the Indian men’s cricket team in the shortest format. 

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