West Indies v India 2nd T20I – West Indies Player ratings

West Indies came back strong in the T20 series after facing an embarrassing 2-0 defeat in the Tests. In the first of the two T20Is, the West Indies side held their nerves to eke out a 1 run win in a high scoring match. Their batsmen were exceptional on the day and had piled up 245 runs. Coming into the second match, they were surely high on confidence and wanted to make it 2-0 in the series.

Coming in to the match, they had a decent start but could never stop the wickets from tumbling. They could post only 143 runs on the board and were bowled out with 2 balls to spare. Just when India had the right chance to level the series, rain gods interrupted and the match was called off. West Indies won the series 1-0.

Here are the West Indies player ratings:

Johnson Charles – 7/10

Opener Johnson Charles was exceptional in the first match with his fiery start. He made a mockery of Indian bowlers in the first game and looked to be in the same touch in the 2^nd match as well. He started off well and timed his shots to perfection with sheer force and power. In no time he raced to 45 off just 25 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes to his name.

He looked good for more but yet again threw his wicket away in his attempt to accelerate even more. He can definitely be excused for that, since that is his nature of play. He perished on the very first ball bowled by Amit Mishra and his weakness against the leg spin was brought to the fore. However, he had done his job before getting dismissed. He gets 7 in the ratings.

Evin Lewis – 2/10

The hero of the last match for West Indies, Evin Lewis, had a tough time in the middle during the 2^nd game. Lewis, who had struck a marvellous century in just 48 balls in the 1^st game, could manage to last only 6 balls in the 2^nd match. He started off with a boundary and it seemed that he is continuing from where he left the other night.

But his stay was cut short by a short ball by Mohammad Shami, as all, he could do in response was to top edge one straight in to the hands of Amit Mishra. Being a youngster, Lewis has to master the art of being consistent if he wishes to survive the tough heat of international cricket. He gets only 2 for his efforts in the 2^nd game.

Marlon Samuels – 1/10

The senior most player in the team, Marlon Samuels, must have shouldered a lot more responsibility than he did in both the matches. He departed cheaply in the first match and the story of the second match was no different. His fielding in the first match was below par too as he dropped a sitter. Samuels’ stay at the crease never looked comfortable from the onset. He could only score 5 runs in the 10 balls that he faced.

His weakness of not being able to bat on the deliveries angled into his body was well exploited by the Indian bowlers. The Indian pacers knew Samuels could only hit the balls if they give him room. So the bowlers cramped him for room and he eventually perished to the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah and gave a simple catch to the wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.

Lendl Simmons – 2/10

Batsman Lendl Simmons had a similar outing to Marlon Samuels. For a batsman of the calibre of Lendl Simmons, it is often expected to give stability to the middle order. However, Simmons failed in his quest to do so. He was dismissed for a golden duck in the last match and couldn’t make use of the second chance that he got in the 2^nd match.

He never looked settled at the crease and could manage only a run-a-ball 19 before being completely out-witted by Ravichandran Ashwin. He came down the track for a pre-meditated lofted drive but missed it completely as Ashwin bowled a wide down the leg – eventually getting stumped by MS Dhoni. He gets only 2 in the ratings.

Andre Fletcher – 2/10

Wicket-keeper batsman Andre Fletcher didn’t get a chance to bat in the first match but got his opportunity today. He could have grabbed the opportunity with both hands to make it count. The young man could only score 3 runs in the 9 balls that he faced.

His attempt to slog proved costly as the bowler he chose was Jasprit Bumrah. A dipping Yorker came his way and the clearing of the front leg didn’t help his cause one bit. The ball crashed to the base of his off stump and he had to make a long way back. His wicket-keeping wasn’t extraordinary either to yield him any extra points.

Kieron Pollard – 3/10

Attacking batsman Kieron Pollard had all eyes on him when West Indies lost wickets in clusters today. He came in to bat when West Indies were placed at 76/4 in 10.1 overs. Pollard gave himself a couple of deliveries to get a look in before hitting a boundary and a six. But just when the West Indies fans started building their hopes, Pollard was trapped lbw by Ravi Ashwin.

Well, in all fairness, it could be said that Pollard was perhaps a tad unlucky to have been given out as he was hit above the knee roll. He went back in disbelief but all that he could manage on the day was 13 off 8 balls. He gets only 3 rating points for his performance.

Andre Russell – 4/10

Andre Russell struck 20 off 12 in the first match and got a start in the 2^nd match as well but couldn’t capitalize on the start. He had to toil hard for his 13 runs and took 15 balls for the same before perishing to a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery. Russell looked very unusual at the wicket. He was definitely not at his comfortable best when it came to hitting the ball.

Russell, who is a T20 superstar, has been phenomenal for his franchise teams with the ball. But he did not look to trouble the Indian batters much during the series.

Also read: The way the bowlers bowled was brilliant: MS Dhoni

Dwayne Bravo – 3/10

Dwayne Bravo was the star of the show in the 1^st T20. His exceptional death overs bowling saw West Indies outplay India’s best finisher MS Dhoni. His batting, though, has been far from being impressive. He stayed unbeaten on 1 in the last game but got a better opportunity to bat in the 2^nd match. However, Bravo could only contribute 3 runs to the team tally.

He was cleaned up Amit Mishra. He did not get a chance to bowl in the match though. A lot would have depended on him if West Indies had to defend the low total the second match. He gets only 3 ratings for his performance.

Carlos Brathwaite – 3/10

The newly appointed West Indies skipper was found wanting with the bat. After scoring 14 in the first match, he failed to contribute in the second match today. He got a brisk start and raced to 18 off 9 balls before giving his wicket away to Amit Mishra. A couple of fours and a six summed up his innings for the day. His captaincy hasn’t been spot on either.

With the ball too, he was very expensive the other day. He gave away 47 runs in his quota of 4 overs in the first game but did not get a chance to bowl in the second match. Brathwaite certainly needs to look at his own batting position in the lineup too. For a batsman of his genre, he should back himself to come early in the innings and counter attack. He gets only 3 in the ratings.

Sunil Narine – 2/10

Sunil Narine did not have much role in the match today. He did not get a chance to bowl in the washed out encounter. However, he did get a chance to bat and scored 9 runs. The points that he gets here is probably because of the six that he hit in the wee overs.

After having put up a very disappointing show in the first T20, Narine had a point to prove in the second game. However, he was unlucky not to have got a chance to bowl today.

Samuel Badree – 2/10

Samuel Badree bowled just one over before the rain interrupted play in the second match. Earlier in the day, he added just one run to his team tally. He had a very disappointing tour. In the first match as well, he could not be very effective and posed absolutely no threat to the Indian batsmen.

In the solitary over that he bowled today, he did not get any purchase from the wicket. On the contrary, the Indian spinners had got quite some turn and bounce from the wicket early in the day.

Also read: Sunil Gavaskar denied entry into the Lauderhill stadium before the second T20I