England vs India 2018, second T20I: Hits and Misses

India started their 80-day tour of the United Kingdom with a two-match T20I series against Ireland at the Village, Dublin.

They produced two convincing, dominating performances to crush Ireland and enter into the T20I series against England full on confidence.

Their batsmen looked in good touch and even their bowlers especially the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were too hot to handle.

England, on the other hand, came into this series against India after pummelling Australia 5-0 in a completely lopsided ODI series and followed that up with a convincing win in the one-off T20I. They have a strong and well-balanced unit who could challenge an in-form India.

The first T20I at Old Trafford, Manchester gave us an insight into England’s weakness against wrist spin.

The batsmen weren’t able to read the leg spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav who broke the back of the England batsmen with career-best figures of 5/24.

Post that KL Rahul continued on from his performances in IPL 2018 and the T20 series against Ireland, and produced a truly stunning display of batting to bat England out of the game.

The same spinners- Adil Rashid and Moen Ali who controlled the innings and dominated the Australians found it hard to create impact against the Indian batsmen especially the inform KL Rahul.

India would want to continue on from their convincing win in the first T20I and seal the series at Cardiff and England would need to sort out their game- especially how they tackle Kuldeep Yadav to get back into the T20 series.

In a do or die encounter at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Eoin Morgan opted to bowl on a pitch which had something extra for the fast bowlers. Keeping the pitch conditions and India’s strength against spin, England brought in the debutant Jake Ball instead of Moen Ali. India, on the other hand, went into this clash unchanged after their convincing win in the first T20I.

In what proved to be a closely fought contest, Alex Hales kept his nerve and ensured England romped home to a win which keeps them alive in the series. England made it 1-1 in the T20I series after India were restricted to a below par total of 148 runs.

Here’s looking at the Hits and Misses from the second Vitality IT20 between England and India:

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#1 Miss: The failure of India’s openers- Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

The openers flattered to deceive

A lot was expected from the openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan especially considering they failed to impress in the first T20I at Old Trafford, Machester. Kuldeep’s brilliance made things really easy for India. And then Rahul was at his majestic best on route to a T20 century to kick start the tour.

Rohit and Dhawan have tasted immense success in England in the limited overs formats of the game.

They were the batting mainstays who were predicted to take India to success along with the others like Kohli and Rahul. Returns of just five and 10 runs respectively at a strike rate less than 100 is definitely not a good sign.

And in both the games, they looked out of sorts. Rohit, in particular, looked shaky, missed out on many scoring opportunities.

Both openers got out rather carelessly which was propelled by the solid English bowling which could have led to the nature of dismissals.

Kohli and the Indian team management would certainly hope both their strike batsmen get into good form and soon. Rohit did start off with a flamboyant 97 against Ireland so he probably just needs a couple of balls to hit the middle of his bat to get back into rhythm again.

#2 Hit: England’s bowling unit delivers on the big day

England's bowling unit delivered

When the conditions suit the bowlers, they must capitalise. The English team made use of the pitch conditions that suited their bowlers. They acted quickly post their defeat in the first T20I and replaced Moen Ali with the tall and lanky fast bowler Jake Ball.

On a pitch which suited the bowlers where the ball was stopping and not coming on to the bat as expected, England’s bowlers delivered as a unit.

David Wiley and Jake Ball were very effective at the start as they curbed the scoring rate of the openers. Liam Plunkett dismissed the inform Rahul.

Adil Rashid was at his crafty best in the middle overs. Before the partnership of Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina could get out of hand, Rashid delivered the key breakthrough of Raina.

Apart from Kohli, no one could get going for India. Willey and Plunkett were the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-18-1 and 4-0-17-1 respectively.

The home side restricted the strong and dominant batting line up of India and restricted them to a mediocre total of 148 runs despite a late flurry by MS Dhoni.

#3 Miss: England’s big guns- Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan fail to deliver

Jos Buttler failed to deliver for England

England came into this clash against India knowing that they had to win this game to stay alive in the series. In order to strengthen their bowling, they left out the attacking all-rounder Moeen Ali in favour of Ball. That left the hosts with one batsman less than usual.

They were dependant on their top four batsmen to play up to their full potential and ensure that the game doesn’t reach a situation where they would require the likes of Willey and the other bowlers to have to contribute too much with the bat.

But Umesh Yadav had other plans as in his first burst of three overs at the start of the innings he managed to nip out Jos Buttler- England’s biggest weapon in their batting arsenal. He followed that with removing the attacking Jason Roy as well, setting the stage for the spinners.

And once the spinners came on, they controlled the innings to a large extent. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav ensured that the English captain Eoin Morgan didn’t get settled. The stylish left-hander struggled to read the leg spinners and at one stage was on 4 off 12 balls.

In such a crucial encounter, England would have hoped their most attacking, bankable players in the T20 format would put up a good show but that was not to be the case. They left lot for the likes of Bairstow, David Willey and the others to score.

#4 Hit: Virat Kohli’s steady and steadfast batting

Kohli had to steady the innings after India lost quick wickets at the top

Kohli came into bat rather early in the piece in this T20I at Cardiff. After a shabby and sluggish start to the innings with the top three batsmen- Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul getting out early, the skipper had to steady the innings.

His partnership with Raina was instrumental in India building a competitive total of 148 runs. Kohli was swift on his feet and was able to rotate the strike and build the innings well.

He handled the fast bowlers and Rashid with ease and pushed away from the rustiness he showed in the start of the tour against Ireland.

Kohli’s knock of 48 runs was laced only with one boundary and two sixes but it’s the time he spent in the middle playing the sheet anchor knock which was very crucial and required for his side.

The captain’s knock made his team finish on a fairly reasonable position considering the pitch conditions and the start the team got off to.

#5 Hit: Alex Hales’s match-winning knock keeps England alive in the series

Alex Hales held on to his nerve and guided England home

England lost two of their key batsmen Roy and Buttler quiet early in their chase of 149. To add to that stalwarts like Joe Root and Eoin Morgan failed to impress yet again.

Amidst all this, Alex Hales played the knock that mattered for England. He steadied the ship, attacked both the spinners that troubled England in the first T20I. His knock of 58 off 41 balls proved to be the difference between the sides.

Hales nullified the Kuldeep's threat by attacking him from the start. Also, Hales held his nerve beautifully and in a pressure situation where 12 runs were required off the last over.

And with Bairstow dismissed, the complete onus was on him to finish the game and that was exactly what he did.

A quality, well-paced knock under pressure from Hales ensured that the hosts came back into the series with a bang. Although India pushed the hosts till the last over, in the end, Hales was just fantastic on the day.

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