2nd T20I: Bowlers inspire India to win vs England

Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar led India’s efforts with the ball as Rohit Sharma and co won the second T20I at Edgbaston, Birmingham by 49 runs on Saturday. With the triumph, the visitors have sealed the series. 

Bhuvi, who finished with figures of 3/15, got a wicket on the very first ball of the innings and the momentum never came down. Bumrah (2/10) delivered cleverly and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/10) asserted his might in the format. Chasing 171 runs, Jos Buttler’s men were dismissed for 121. 

Also read: ‘Paise aur…’: Sehwag’s cheeky response to Virat Kohli’s dismissal vs England in 2nd T20I

India’s all-round bowling show and some phenomenal captaincy by Rohit Sharma choked England’s big-hitters. While Jason Roy was dismissed for a duck, Buttler made four runs. Moeen Ali top-scored for the hosts with 35 runs in 21 balls. David Willey was unbeaten at 33. 

For India, Harshal Patel and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each. 

In the first innings, India’s new-look batting order showed much-required intent from the onset but was done by extra bounce as England. 

Also read: Hard, harder, gone: India top order falls to England debutant Richard Gleeson

Ravindra Jadeja (46 not out off 29 balls) having gone through a horrible IPL, found his lost batting touch in the shortest format with an innings that helped India touch the 170-run mark.

Jadeja’s innings had five boundaries and was also his highest score in T20Is.

It looked distant at one stage when the Indian team was reduced to 89 for five, just after the halfway mark and the batting collapse certainly impeded the side’s progress as it was at least 20 runs short of par-score.

Skipper Rohit Sharma (31 off 20 balls) had a new opening partner in Rishabh Pant (26 off 15 balls) and they struck the right chord with attractive shots in the powerplay overs which has been the T20 team’s mantra.

However, debutant Richard Gleeson (3/15 in 4 overs) and seasoned Chris Jordan (4/27 in 4 overs) both bowled fast and straight while slipping in well disguised short balls that created trouble for the Indian batters.