England vs India 2018, 2nd T20I: Match in pictures

After being drubbed by the Indians by eight wickets in the first game, England bounced back to claim honours in the second game at Cardiff, leveling the series 1-1 with a five-wicket win.

Riding on the back of Alex Hales' 41-ball 58, the hosts usurped India's sub-par score of 148-5 in 20 overs, forcing the series into a decider at Bristol.

England decided to bowl first, to try and restrict the Indian team to an achievable total, knowing well that Kohli's men have an enviable record in chases.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started off in slow fashion, taking their time to get used to the conditions. The sluggish start paved the way for Rohit's early dismissal, who tried to pull a steep Jake Ball delivery, but ended up handing a catch to the keeper.

Shikhar Dhawan got out in bizarre fashion, losing his bat as he tried to complete a run, and fell short of his crease. A hit on his body off a Jake Ball bouncer had completely fuzzled him, and he struggled to reach the other end, ending up as India's second casualty.

KL Rahul, centurion for the Indian team in the first game, could not carry the momentum forward to the next one, failing to read the line of a sharp Liam Plunkett delivery and losing his stumps in the process.

At 22-3 within the first five overs, India were off to a poor start.

To compensate for the sluggish start, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina turned the heat on the English bowlers, attacking the pacers and spinners alike. Raina, against the run of play, got stumped off Adil Rashid for a 20-ball 27.

Virat Kohli stuck at one end, ensuring that the flurry of wickets was stopped. He fell just three short of his half-century, getting out to David Willey, with Joe Root taking a sharp catch in the deep off his swivel-pull shot at fine leg.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, playing his 500th international game, helped the Indian team close in on 150 with a late burst. His 24-ball 32, studded with five boundaries but no sixes, made sure that the Indian bowlers had something to bowl at.

For England, the chase could have been tricky, and a solid start was something they would have kept in mind. Jason Roy starts off with two fours and a six in the opening over against Umesh Yadav, but is brought to his knees very soon by the Indian pacer, who accounts for both the openers inside the powerplay.

Attempting to sweep off Yuzvendra Chahal, in his first very over, Root was bowled for nine, leaving the English side reeling at 44-3.

Hales was at one end, combining with Eoin Morgan to help England towards safety. Morgan used his feet against the spinners, combining well with Hales, who himself made sure that the combination of Chahal and Kuldeep did not take a menacing turn.

Morgan, however, couldn't capitalize on his start, falling to an astounding catch by Shikhar Dhawan, off Hardik Pandya, in the deep. Dhawan back-pedaled and hung on to an overhead catch at fine leg, sending the Indian supporters into a tizzy.

Having endured quite some backlash owing to his performance in the first game, Hales fought back to silence his detractors with an assured knock, staying put at one end to make sure that the English side are able to lap up the low score.

A 16-run over off Kuldeep helped the English side close in on the target, despite a bit of a muddle in the middle. With 23 required off 18, it looked that they had done their bit, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar came in to send Jonny Bairstow back, conceding just three runs to bring the equation down to 20 off 12.

Hales, however, managed to take his side to safety, and in the company of David Willey, ended the match in 19.4 overs.

For the Indian team, a run of seven consecutive wins in T20Is was brought to an end. Virat Kohli and team, riding high after the 2-0 thumping of Ireland, and the win in the first game, now need to pull up their socks for the decider in Bristol.