England vs India 2018, 2nd T20I: Hits and misses

A spin bamboozled, yet aggressive white-ball English team, turned their woes around to win the second T20 international at Cardiff, thereby levelling the three-match series 1-1 and in the process ended India’s seven-match winning streak in T20Is.

Eoin Morgan won the toss and was more than eager to ask team India to bat first. Important contributions from the skipper Virat Kohli (47), Suresh Raina (27) and a 22-run final over finish from MS Dhoni helped India on its course to 148/5.

Although India tried to claw their way back with some excellent bowling, defending a small total was always tough, and it was indeed England who ended up on the winning side.

While Alex Hales took England over the line in what turned out to be a last over thriller, let us take a look at the hits and misses of the game.

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#1 Miss: India’s top order failure

India usually boasts of a top order of the highest class but today was one such day where they were off colours.

A spongy wicket and a bit of lateral movement added to the woes of Rohit Sharma, who hasn’t been in the best of nicks off late. A top edge off a back-of-a-length ball from Jake Ball ended Rohit’s misery, handing Ball’s first T20I wicket and India, their first blow.

This was followed up by a bizarre run-out at the non-striker’s end as Shikhar Dhawan, hit on the elbow, responded to his partners call for a single but ended up centimetres short, hanging in the air as Eoin Morgan just about managed to remove the bails.

Cricket once again proved it is a great leveller as previous match centurion, KL Rahul was bowled off Liam Plunkett as he shuffled and lost his bails.

India scored just a paltry score of 31/3 in the powerplay, one of the lowest scores in the first six overs for India in T20I.

#2 Hit: England’s bowling

A collective effort from the English bowlers was conducive in restricting India to a mere total of 148/5

England proved how vital it is to play horses-for-courses in a format like T20, as they brought in pacer Jake Ball for Moeen Ali, taking advantage of a pacy and spongy wicket and an oblong shaped stadium with big square boundaries.

Liam Plunkett and David Willey were the picks of bowlers with economies of 4.25 and 4.5, grabbing wickets of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli respectively. Jake ball and Adil Rashid, although went for runs, provided pivotal breakthroughs in the form of Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.

A collective effort from the English bowlers was conducive in restricting India to a mere total of 148/5.

#3 Hit: Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav was in top form against England

The skiddy pacer from Vidarbha has made news for all the right reasons since the start of IPL 2018. Ending the IPL as one of the highest wicket-takers, grabbing 20 wickets in 14 outings, Umesh made a strong case to be part of the Indian team in the shorter formats.

The comeback into T20Is has been great for Umesh as he has continued to provide much need wickets in the powerplay overs for India. Today too, he picked up two wickets as he first cleaned up James Roy with a ball that nipped in and later removed the dangerous Jos Buttler, who was caught trying to clear the mid-off to a full delivery.

Often criticized for his death-bowling, Umesh executed perfect yorkers and gave away just eight runs of the penultimate over and gave the Indian fans a glimmer of hope towards victory.

#4 Miss: Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav had a forgettable outing in Cardiff

Just like K L Rahul, another hero from Manchester, Kuldeep Yadav had a forgettable outing in Cardiff. While it is unsure whether England’s ploy to make use of Merlyn, the bowling machine, to counter Kuldeep really made a difference, Kuldeep erring in his lengths didn’t really help India’s cause.

Kuldeep conceded three sixes and a boundary and went wicket-less to finish his 4-over quota with 34 runs.

#5 Hit: Alex Hales

Hales played a wonderful innings

In what turned out to be a low-total thriller, Alex Hales was the hero for England. Hales played a composed inning of 41-ball-58.

He held his nerves to those wide yorkers from Umesh and managed to drive on through the covers for a boundary to give England the slight edge in the penultimate over.

Bhuvi, one of the best death bowlers was shown no mercy as he erred in lengths as Hales sent one straight down the ground for six and followed it up with a boundary down fine leg.

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