END OF OVER:20 | 16 Runs | WI: 178/3 (9 runs required, RR: 8.90)
- Kieron Pollard3 (3b)
- Rovman Powell68 (36b)
- Harshal Patel4-0-46-0
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar4-0-29-1
That's all from our side from this game. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. See you soon.
Rishabh Pant, the Player of the Match: I am fine wherever the team wants me to bat. I think all of us inside the circle were waiting for it but in the end it was Bhuvi bhai's catch. I think the more you practise, the better you get [on his pick-up shot over short fine leg]. It's never easy playing continuously with bubbles but when I started playing, this is what I wanted to do. I think Powell was hitting bullets out there but at the back of the mind I was happy as well because he will be playing for Delhi Capitals.
Rohit Sharma: You are always a bit scared when you are playing against these guys. In the end it was a phenomenal finish. Right from the start we knew it wouldn't be easy. But I am proud we executed our plans under pressure. It was very critical at that point when Bhuvneshwar bowled. That's where experience comes into play. Bhuvi has been doing it for many years and we believe in him a lot. The way Virat started he took the pressure off me as well. It was a very important innings. And great finish by Rishabh and Venky Iyer. To see that sort of maturity from Iyer is very pleasing. He looks confident and towards the end he asked me if I wanted to give him an over. We were a little sloppy in the field, a little disappointed with that. We could have done better if we had taken those catches. We wan to try and minimise those mistakes moving forward.
Kieron Pollard: [On Powell] He was phenomenal today. His partnership with Pooran almost took us over the line. Pleased with the guys. The ball was moving around and they have got good bowlers. You have to give credit where it's due. In the first game you could have said we were a bit slow in the middle overs but we corrected that here. We cannot call the batters out. We can look at it in different ways how we could have got those eight runs. We are a work in progress.
Time for the presentation ceremony.
Lakshman K: "I know it's little late for this and may not published, but why did Pollard play a defensive shot at the last ball why not attempt to hit, what if it was a no ball, it amazes how come such an experienced player does not think about it. These kind of silly things happen so often, like Not attempting a second run of the last ball fearing a run out, not crossing when ball is in air ."
For what it's worth, this is India's 100th win in T20Is if you include Super Over and Bowl-Out wins. They are second on that list with Pakistan at the top with 118. (This is when considering men's cricket.)
Manan: "West Indies missed Lewis really badly. His introduction at the top can make a world of difference, they would've won on another day!"
Aditya Singh: "Remember the name - Bhuveneshwar Kumar!! Just unbelievable skills really."
Divyesh : "In my opinion.. MoM should be bhuvi for that 19th over!!"
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: There was a bit of dew but we managed. Probably 200kph [the speed with which Powell was hitting his shots]. We tried a few slower ball that gripped. The ones Deepak Chahar tried they didn't. Bowling slower ones depend on the surface. These guys are so powerful that you cannot let them know where you are going to bow. Touch wood the body is feeling okay.
10.47pm Phew! What a power-packed assault from Pooran and Powell that was, especially from Powell. But India manage to keep him at bay and seal the series. It was a slow start from their openers but Powell put an exhibition of brutal force. It came down to 29 needed off 12 balls but an excellent over from Bhuvneshwar gave Harshal 25 to bowl with.
Two sixes needed off the last two balls. Can Powell do it?