Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets for 15 runs in three overs in the 2nd T20I vs England at the Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham on Saturday. Rolling on a brilliant overall bowling display India won the game by 49 runs and sealed the three-match series. 

With the match-winning spell, Bhuvi recorded a rare T20I feat. The Indian pacer became the first bowler to deliver 500 dot balls in power plays. New Zealand’s Tim Southee and Samuel Badree of the West Indies have 383 dots each against their names. 

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Kumar also has most wickets in powerplay in T20s – 37. 

Most dot ball bowled by a bowler in the powerplay in T20I cricket:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 502

Samuel Badree: 383

Tim Southee: 368

Mitch Starc: 354

Nuwan Kulasekara: 324

The 32-year-old bowler, who is known for swinging the ball both ways, started off India’s second innings on a high note. He managed to dismiss English opener Jason Roy for a golden duck. Bhuvi then also got rid of skipper Jos Buttler. Richard Gleeson was his third victim. 

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s brilliant spell was aided by Jasprit Bumrah (2/10) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/10) as India managed to restrict England to 121 runs after scoring 170 in the first innings. Harshal Patel and Hardik Pandya picked one wicket each. 

The performace came after, batting first, India once again showed a start-to-finish aggressive intent while reaching 170 for eight riding on new ‘batting all-rounder’ Ravindra Jadeja (46 not out off 29 balls) after a sudden collapse during the middle-phase on a track full of pace and bounce.

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Rishabh Pant’s (26 off 15 balls) elevation as an opener alongside skipper Rohit (31 off 20 balls) is a welcome move where the team at least wouldn’t be erring in the side of caution in the powerplay overs.

In between the duo, they hit seven fours and three sixes in the first six overs, an approach that was missing during last T20 World Cup.

The strategy is to not stop playing the shots even if wickets fall at one end and Virat Kohli (1 off 3 balls) did feel the peer pressure and the mis-timed skier showed his desperation.