Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja were the star performers in a comprehensive Indian win in the second T20I of the series versus England in Birmingham on July 9. The hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match rubber, thanks to exceptional outings from their ace new-ball bowler and premier spin allrounder.
Defending a score of 170/8 on a flat batting beauty at Edgbaston, India needed to plague England early into their run-chase. The visitors required early breakthroughs to derail the home team’s lengthy batting unit.
Enabling that was the ever-incisive Bhuvi, who got the dangerous opening duo of Jason Roy (0) and Jos Buttler (4) in his first two overs. The experienced Indian seamer got it to swing and seam past the two English batters and gave India a strong foot into the winning door.
At the other end, spearhead Jasprit Bumrah made a wonderful return to the T20I side by getting rid of a counterattacking Liam Livingstone (15) on his way to figures of two for 10 off three overs.
England found themselves 27/3 at the end of the first overs in the second half, a situation they never recovered from as a similar theme of losing regular wickets from the first T20I continued for the hosts, and that gave India the upper hand.
Relishing the platform laid by Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel (1/34) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/10) further took the game away from an England side that couldn’t find flow to their batting effort.
The three lions had Moeen Ali (35) and David Willey (33*) taking some fight to the Indians but weren’t able to play the substantial knock that the hosts needed to keep the chase alive. In the end, England faltered to a paltry 121 all out, failing to even bat their entire quote of 20 overs.
It was a result that would’ve felt deeply satisfying to the visitors as there was a point they may have folded for a modest score themselves and made the task of chasing a hell lot easier for the hosts. That it didn’t happen had a lot to do with an impressive comeback to the T20I side by Jadeja, who smashed a critical 46 not out off 29 deliveries at No.6.
Jadeja kept India in line for a fighting score on another flat surface for the series. When The tourists were in a spot of bother at 89/5, he ensured they somehow stuttered along on his shoulders to a position of strength and competitive nature.
Indians had an overall strange outing with the bat. On the lookout for aggressive options at all stages, they lost wickets from time to time. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav (15) and Hardik Pandya (12) got starts, while Virat Kohli (1), too, tried to fetch the leather in his three-ball stay.
The visitors had an impressive start, though, thanks to knocks from skipper Rohit Sharma (31) and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (26), who was promoted to open the innings – a move suggested from outside for quite some time and one that brings with it immense possibilities if given the time and the patience.
England had two notable positives on the bowling front, with Richard Gleeson taking a three-fer (3/15) and seamer Chris Jordan continuing from where he left in the opening T20I to bag figures of four for 27 off his quota. But expensive outings from the rest meant that India could still propel themselves to a score and eventually win another bilateral white-ball series against England.
Brief scores
India 170/8 in 20 overs (Jadeja 46, Sharma 31; Jordan 4/27) beat England 121/10 in 17 overs (Ali 35, Willey 33; Kumar 3/15) by 49 runs
