India strolls past West Indies to top Group 2

It was yet another routine victory for the Men in Blue in the second match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2014. After Pakistan, it was West Indies who got the taste of India’s spin web at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. India won the match by 7 wickets with 2 balls to spare.

If one is to judge India’s dominance over West Indies by the number of still left to be played it will be a huge mistake. India never really let go the steering of the match to the Caribbeans. Right from the very beginning when WI was batting till the very last shot that Raina played India had their authority stamped over it. It was once again a great job by Indian spinners as they kept mighty Chris Gayle under control. Even the seamers bowled exceptionally well at the start of the innings which made the job a bit easier for the spinners to come in and cash on the platform set by them. Amit Mishra was the most successful bowler as he returned with match figures of 4-0-18-2. It earned him the man-of-the-match for the second on a row. Ashwin somewhat compensated the dropped catch at first with his economical bowling. And it was due to this disciplined bowling that the WI innings never took off even after Chris Gayle (33) was dropped twice. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled the most economical spell in T20 internationals conceding only 3 in his 3 overs. Mohammad Shami also bowled well but without much luck. Ravindra Jadeja picked up 3 wickets but conceded 48 runs, which was not up to the mark by his standards. Lendl Simmons played a cameo in the end to see the Caribbeans reaching 130-run mark. In fact WI set India a target of exactly 130 runs to chase.

India was looking for a similar kind of a start which they got in the Pakistan. But this time it was not be. Shikhar Dhawan (0) was given out leg before wicket rather dubiously in the very first over bowled by Samuel Badree. Umpire Richrad Illingworth probably wanted to bring some excitement back into the match, that was quite one-sided till that moment, otherwise no international umpire would have given that out in the wildest of their dreams. However WI could not take advantage of such a gift as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma exhibited some scintillating stroke-play to take India close to the finishing line. Though Kohli got out in the end for 54, Rohit (62*) stayed till the end to guide India to a comprehensive victory. It was Suresh Raina who hit the winning runs to complete an easy win.

With this victory India now top the Group 2 with two matches in hand and looking quite assured of a place in the last four. India’s next match is against the home side Bangladesh on 28^th March followed by the game against Australia on 30^th. And the kind of form the Indians are showing except few misfields and dropped catches it will be a job in hand for the opponents to get better against India.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.