An unbeaten 67 from Lenel Simmons single-handedly guided the West Indies to a terrific 8-wicket win against a sloppy India in the 2nd T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday night.
West Indies has levelled the series 1-1 and the decider will be played in Mumbai on Wednesday.
After restricting India to 170, the visitors had a controlled start. However, some clumsy fielding from the men-in-blue amplified their confidence. The opening duo of Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis punished the Indian attack brutally, stitching a 73-run stand for the opening wicket.
Kohli's men could have pushed the men-in-maroon under pressure as Bhuvneshwar Kumar carved a way out in the 5th over. However, the buttery hands of the Indian fielders disappointed the audience.
First, Washington Sundar dropped Simmons on 6 and then Pant failed against Lewis, leaving him to survive on 16.
The duo continued frustrating the hosts until Sundar drew the first blood in the 10th over. He lured Lewis to dance down the line. As soon as the batter failed to connect, Pant grabbed the ball to dislodge the bails.
The loss didn't hamper the West Indian confidence as Simmons continued his hard-hitting and Shimron Hetmyer played the second fiddle. Meanwhile, the opener brought up his 17th half-century in the shortest format.
Hetmyer started to tee off when he was dismissed thanks to a screamer of a catch by Virat Kohli on the boundary line. However, that was the last bit of joy for the hosts as Nicholas Pooran came in and took the visitors home.
Earlier, Shivam Dube's masterful 54 off 30 balls was one of the chief reasons why India managed to post 170/7. Dube was promoted to number three and he repaid the faith shown by hitting a maiden international fifty.
After his dismissal, Kesrick Williams and Sheldon Cottrell led the way in stopping the Indians from crossing 200. Kohli, who was unbeaten on 94 in the previous match, was dismissed for 19 off 17 balls.