West Indies vs India, 2nd T20I, Lauderhill, Florida: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

India gnawed their way to win in a low-scoring encounter at Lauderhill, Florida to go one-up in the 3-T20I series. The match aggregate – 193 for 15 in 224 balls – is an indicator of the double-paced nature of the pitch. The second match will be played on the same strip without a day’s gap, so the match should follow a similar pattern.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, debutant Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed made excellent use of the new ball, combining for figures of 10-1-44-6. However, things may look different if West Indies get to bowl first. Sheldon Cottrell bothered the Indian top order, while his support staff got important wickets.

The batsmen faltered in the first match. Rohit Sharma (24) was the only Indian to go past 20, while for West Indies, Kieron Pollard (49) and Nicholas Pooran (20) were among the three batsmen to go past even 4. This is the sort of wicket where batsmen need to dig in – and the side that manages to do that is likelier to prevail.

Head to head

India have a nominal 6-5 lead in the 11 matches between the sides. However, they have won their last 4 matches now, though 3 of them have been at home.

Key players

Sunil Narine (West Indies): The Lauderhill pitch is not the easiest to bat on, and Narine exploited it to the fullest with his wiles and subtle variations to finish with 4-0-14-2. Be prepared for an encore – and who knows, he may be promoted up the batting order as well.

Navdeep Saini (India): With his pace and accuracy, India’s newest hero scythed through the West Indian line-up on debut, often finding their explosive strokeplayers wanting. He will be raring to have another go, trying to cement a place in the side with another performance.

Likely XIs

West Indies: John Campbell, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Carlos Brathwaite (c), Sunil Narine, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini.

Prediction

West Indies to pull one back.