India’s Tilak Varma plays a shot against West Indies during the second T20 cricket match at Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana on August 6, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
Negotiating disciplined bowlers, Tilak Varma produced a well-calculated half-century, his first in T20Is, to take India to 152 for seven against West Indies in the second match in Providence on Sunday.
The fearless Varma continued his good run in the shortest format as the 20-year-old scooped, swept and heaved the ball all around the ground to score 51 off 41 balls, becoming the youngest Indian to score a fifty in T20 Internationals.
Coming out to bat with India in a spot of bother at 18/2, Varma put up a crucial 42-run partnership with Ishan Kishan (27) before joining forces with skipper Hardik Pandya to stitch a 38-run stand.
Hardik (24) tried to inflate India’s total by hitting two sixes but Alzarri Joseph (2/28) produced a cracking yorker to get rid of the Indian skipper.
Opting to bat, the script didn’t go as per plan for the visitors as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
West Indies skipper Rovman Powell kept shuffling his bowlers, a move that paid dividends.
Kishan (27) played a few shots in his 23-ball stay including a six off Akeal Hosein (2/29) over deep square leg but couldn’t convert his start into a meaningful innings as he was bowled by Romario Shepherd.
Shubman Gill’s (7) stay in the middle was once again a brief one. With pressure building on him after successive dot balls, he showed his class by sending the ball for a maximum in the third over but perished in the very next ball off Joseph.
Suryakumar Yadav (1) didn’t last long either as Kyle Mayers at square leg effected the Indian vice-captain’s run-out with a brilliant direct hit.
Sanju Samson (7) moved way to early down the track in search of a big shot and was stumped by an attentive Nicholas Pooran.
Hosein, Joseph and Romario Shepherd (2/28) picked two wickets each.