Ahmedabad: Indian bowlers pulled things back brilliantly in the last five overs to restrict England to 164 for six in the second T20 International here Sunday. The Men in Blue had suffered an embarrassing eight-wicket loss in the first ODI played Friday
Sent into bat, England suffered an early jolt in the form of Jos Buttler (0), who was adjudged off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third ball of the innings. Jason Roy (46, 35b, 4×4, 2×6) and Dawid Malan (24, 23b, 4×4) shared 63 runs off 47 balls to take the England innings forward.
But the dangerous-looking partnership was broken by Yuzvendra Chahal (1/34) in the ninth over when he trapped Malan leg before as India got the review right on this occasion.
Just when Roy was looking dangerous, he was caught at deep square leg by Bhuvneshwar off Washinton Sundar’s (2/29) bowling in the 12th over. It was a brilliant catch by Bhuvneshwar in the deep as he had to run approximately 15 yards to his left and then he dived forward to complete the catch.
Washington struck again in his next over when he has Jonny Bairstow (20) caught by debutant Suryakumar Yadav at deep square-leg. England captain Eoin Morgan (28, 20b, 4×4) was the next casualty as in search of big hits, he edged a Shardul Thakur slower (2/20) delivery to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps.
At 130 for four in the 15th over, England looked well in course of reaching a near 200-run target but the Indian bowlers bowled brilliantly to concede just 34 runs in the last five overs.
It was during this phase that they rarely gave anything loose to the England and the visiting batsmen found it extremely difficult to free their arms. It is another matter that Ben Stokes (24, 21b, 1×4) tried to innovate, but he also came a cropper against Thakur, judiciously mixed the slower ball with the faster deliveries.
However, it must be stated here that the fall of Roy’s wicket was really crucial as far as India were concerned. The England opener again looked in great touch and none of the Indian bowlers could restrict his free-flowing style of play. It was his dismissal, which to some extent contributed in India making a comeback with the ball.
The slower one that got Morgan out from Thakur was a real beauty. The England captain tried to flay the ball over extra-cover, but was beaten for pace and managed to only toe-end the ball for Pant to take an easy catch behind the stumps. Morgan is a dangerous player and his wicket came at the right time for India. Had the England captain been there for a couple of more overs, India would certainly have been forced to chase something closer to 200 than what they are chasing now.
All the Indian bowlers stuck to their guns. Even Hardik Pandya who bowled with a changed action tried to get the basics right and that helped.
Brief scores: England 164 for 6 (Jason Roy 46, Washington Sundar 2/29, Shardul Thakur 2/29).
