THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With a six-wicket victory after chasing a stiff 208-run target in the first T20 International against West Indies in Hyderabad, Virat Kohli-led Team India, who is leading the three match series 1-0, will take on West Indies in the second T20I at the Sports Hub stadium here on Sunday.
As the ‘Men in Blue’ will eye to continue their winning streak after the first match which witnessed Indian Skipper Kohli’s unbeaten sublime innings and opener K L Rahul’s impressive performance, it would not be an easy task for the defending World Cup champion in the shortest format to turn results in their favour.
However, the batting strength exhibited by West Indies batting order including Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis and Brandon King besides Skipper Kieron Pollard to post a mammoth total of 207 in the first match will give confidence to the visiting team to raise yet another challenge at an expected packed house at the Sports Hub, Karyavattom here.
As the West Indies innings in the first match saw contributions from a number of players instead of one standout innings, which also witnessed fireworks towards the end, it would be a tough time for the Indian bowlers to tame the Caribbeans.
Some lax fielding by the Indians in the first match which saw a few catches dropped would be a concern for Kohli’s team at the Sports Hub which is likely to be a batsman-friendly turf.
The state-of-the-art Sports Hub has been a lucky venue for India as they have won both the matches they have earlier played here including the ODI played against West Indies last year.
The spectators will be hoping to see local lad Sanju Samson, who replaced injured Shikhar Dhawan, get a chance to play here. In the recent match between India-A and South Africa-A held at the Sports Hub Sunju played a spectacular innings.
(agencies)
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