Unlike the first match, India won the toss in the second T20I and had opted to bowl first. England who won the first T20I chasing a modest total, definitely put up a great show with the bat compared to their rivals from the first game. Jason Roy’s 46 and four scores of 20s in the middle-order got them to 164/6 in 20 overs.
Indian death bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur bowled brilliantly mixing up their variations. Even England’s best all-rounder Ben Stokes failed to nick the ball on many occasions in the death overs!
During the chase, India lost KL Rahul to second successive duck in this series. The other opener Ishan Kishan who made his debut in this match smashed a superb half-century (56 off 32) and was involved in a 94-run stand for the second wicket with Virat Kohli. Once Ishan departed, Kohli (73* off 49) remained unbeaten to take India to a 7-wicket victory and help India level the series. Unfortunately, India’s another debutant Suryakumar Yadav did not get a chance to bat in this match.
England bowlers Tom Curran (0/26) and Ben Stokes (0/17) collectively conceded 43 runs from their 3 overs! Seems like the rotating policy had once again cost England the match! Mark Wood who was exception with the ball in the first T20I has been rested for this game with Tom Curran recalled. This decision did cost the visitors the match and an early lead in this 5-match series.
Debutant Ishan Kishan has been adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his explosive knock at the top. With India winning the 2nd T20I, the 5-match series is now level 1-1 with 3 matches to go. The third T20I of the series is scheduled to played on Tuesday (Mar 16).
Brief Scores: India – 166/3 in 17.5 overs (Virat Kohli – 73*, Ishan Kishan – 56, Sam Curran – 1/22, Adil Rashid – 1/38) defeated England – 164/6 in 20 overs (Jason Roy – 46, Eoin Morgan – 28, Washington Sundar – 2/29, Shardul Thakur – 2/29) by a margin of 7 wickets
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