Lendl Simons' unbeaten fifty (67 off 45) and Evin Lewis' crucial knock (40 off 35 balls) helped the West Indies beat India in the second Twenty20 international (T20I) by eight wickets to level the three-match series 1-1 in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Nicholas Pooran (38 off 18) and Shimron Hetmyer (23 off 14) also contributed significantly to their side's win. Indian bowlers failed to execute their plans but fielders' poor day in the field didn't help their cause either. Simmons and Lewis both were dropped in Bhuvneshwar Kumar's single over and from there on it was always one-way traffic as they put on a huge first-wicket stand. Earlier, Shivam Dube's maiden T20I half-century helped India score 170/7 against the West Indies after they were put to bat. Opener KL Rahul couldn't repeat his last match's performance and got out cheaply. To everybody's surprise, the Indian team management decided to promote left-handed Dube and he made most of the opportunity, scoring 54 off 30 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes. Apart from him, other Indian batsmen struggles to score runs. Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, however, played sensibly and remained unbeaten on 33 runs off 22 balls, helping Indian post a fighting total. (SCORECARD)
Highlights Between India vs West Indies 2nd T20I, straight from Greenfield International Stadium, ThiruvananthapuramÂ
That's all for tonight from our side. West Indies level the series with this eight-wicket win and this sets us up for nicely the final match of the series. Do join us then in two days' time on Wednesday.
Deepak Chahar bowls short and Nicholas Pooran pulls it through midwicket to finish things off in style with a cracking boundary. West Indies level the series 1-1 as they win the 2nd T20I by eight wickets.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar takes the pace off the ball and Nicholas Pooran drives it through extracover for an elegant boundary. The timing on that shot was just immaculate.
Nicholas Pooran smashes two boundaries off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bridge the gap between the balls and number of runs required. Lendl Simmons collected four runs off the last ball to end Bhuvneshwar Kumar's expensive over.
Ravindra Jadeja bowled full to Shimron Hetmyer and he goes straight down the ground where Virat Kohli stretched himself completely to pull off a stunner.
Washington Sundar gets rid of Evin Lewis in the final over of his spell to hand India the first breakthrough. Lewis came dancing down the pitch, missed the line completely and Rishabh Pant did the rest behind the stumps.
Lendl Simmons uses his wrists to clear the deep midwicket fence for six runs. The ball was pitched outside off and Simmons's perfect use of wrists helped him clear the fence.
Evin Lewis misses Washington Sundar's delivery, ball hit him on the pads. Pant, like usual, made a huge appeal and Kohli has decided to challenge the on-field decision. The replay shows the impact to be outside stumps line, meaning India lose their review.
Yuzvendra Chahal errs in his line and Evi Lewis sweeps it over backward square leg fence for a six. Looks like, Chahal was trying to bowl away from the batsman and that is what costed him dearly on that occasion.
Evin Lewis dances down the track and lofts Washington Sundar's delivery over long-off for his second six of the over. Lewis has made most of the life he was gifted with by Pant in the last over.
Now Evin Lewis gets life, the ball took outside edge and Rishabh Pant dropped a difficult chance when his elbow hit the ground. Pant was moving in the other direction which made it even more difficult for him but he did well to get his both hands on the ball.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls a knuckle ball, Lendl Simmons' mishit goes high in the air and Washington Sundar dropped a sitter despite getting himself under the ball.
After an early burst from his fast bowlers, Virat Kohli has given the ball to Washington Sundar in the third over as India are looking for the breakthrough.
A lucky boundary for Evin Lewis on the last ball of the over. It sailed over the slips after taking a top edge and raced away to the fence. Nevertheless, it was a good over from Deepak Chahar.
Sheldon Cottrell takes pace off the bowl and Washington Sundar plays it straight back to the bowler who makes no mistake in his follow through and takes a simple catch to complete a soft dismissal.
Kesrick Williams bowls short and Hayden Walsh's brilliant fielding effort in the deep denies Ravindra Jadeja his first boundary. He hasn't been able to get going so far.
Sheldon Cottrell bowls full and Rishabh Pant wanted to smash it past the bowler straight down the ground but Cottrell did a fabulous job in his follow through to deny the batsman any run.
India Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team
Virat Kohli
Kieron Pollard
Rohit Sharma