Ahmedabad: Debutant Ishan Kishan’s (56, 32b, 5×4, 4×6) fearless half century and skipper Virat Kohli’s (73 n o, 49b, 5×4, 3×6) perfectly paced knock set up a series-levelling seven wicket win for India in the second T20 International against England here Sunday. Jharkhand lad Kishan put on 94 runs for the second wicket with Kohli and looked completely at home on the big stage, having played enough IPL cricket in a similar environment. Chase master Kohli took charge after Kishan’s dismissal to power India to victory with 13 balls to spare.
Earlier the Indian bowlers put up a disciplined effort to restrict England to 164 for six in 20 overs after Kohli opted to bowl.
India did not have the best of starts in the chase as they lost KL Rahul (0) in the opening over, caught by Jos Buttler behind the stumps off left-arm pacer Sam Curran. However, Kishan made a formidable England attack look ordinary with his disdainful hitting.
Kishan was caught plumb in front of the wicket by Adil Rashid in the 10th over but he had done his job by then. Kohli and Rishabh Pant (26) then shared 36 runs for the third wicket before the latter gave a simple catch to Jonny Bairstow off Chris Jordan in the 14th over to raise England’s hopes.
But it was not to be as Kohli anchored the chase perfectly. The skipper ended the game with a six off Jordan.
“This England side are quality sit and to beat them you have to tick all the boxes properly. Thankfully we did that today. After the bowlers, Kishan played some fearless cricket to express himself and I hope he continues to do that in the matches to come,” Kohli said after the game.
On his part, Kishan said that he enjoyed batting on the track. “When I hit Tom Curran for a six, I knew that I could play on the big stage. It was a shot that gave me a lot of confidence,” Kishan said after receiving the man of the match award.
Earlier, Indian bowlers pulled things back brilliantly in the last five overs just conceding 34 runs.
Sent into bat, England suffered an early jolt in the form of Jos Buttler (0), who was adjudged leg before to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third ball of the innings.
Jason Roy (46, 35b, 4×4, 2×6) and Dawid Malan (24) 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 plumb in front.
Eoin Morgan (28), Ben Stokes (24) and Jonny Bairstow (20) all got starts, but failed to convert and that hampered England’s chances.
Washington (2/29) and Thakur (2/29) were the pick of the bowlers for India.
Brief scores: England 164 for 6 (Jason Roy 46, Washington Sundar 2/29, Shardul Thakur 2/29) lost to India 166 for 3 in 17.5 overs (Virat Kohli 73 n o, Ishan Kishan 56) by seven wickets.