Birmingham: Ravindra Jadeja’s fighting knock, followed by a clinical bowling effort, helped India thrash England by 49 runs in the second T20I and take a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match series, here on Saturday.
Riding on Jadeja’s innings (46 not out off 29), India posted a decent 170/8 in 20 overs, after being invited to bat first. Apart from Jadeja, Rohit Sharma (31 off 20) and Rishabh Pant (26 off 15) were the other main scorers for India. Chris Jordan (4-27) and Richard Gleeson (3-15) were the wicket-takers for England.
In reply, England kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never looked in contention to chase the winning total. They were bowled out for 121 all out in 17 overs. Moeen Ali (35 off 21) and David Willey (33 not out off 22) were the other main scorers for them.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/15), Jasprit Bumrah (2/10) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/10) and Harshal Patel (1/34) were the wicket-takers for India.
India’s new opening pair of Rohit and Pant gave India an attacking start picked their spots, maximising the powerplay as David Willey and Moeen Ali faced some heat.
It was Richard Gleeson, the oldest T20I debutant for England, who gave hosts their first breakthrough by dismissing Rohit in the fifth over of the innings. Despite Rohit’s wicket, Pant went down the track and smacked a length delivery by Moeen over long-off for a smashing six as India crossed the 50-run mark.
However, Gleeson came back to claim the wicket of Kohli (1) courtesy of a superb catch by David Malan at backward point. In the very next ball, Pant stepped out to Gleeson but got an inside edge to the keeper, leaving India struggling at 69/3.
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya had the job to take over things from there and they put on a small partnership of 28 runs but Chris Jordan’s double-strike dented the Indians’ hopes further. Jordan first picked Yadav with a short ball and then Pandya cut another one straight to point.
At 89-5, India were in a spot of bother and Jadeja and Dinesh Karthik needed to bat deep to take the visitors to a competitive score. During his stay at the crease, Karthik (12) wasn’t able to rotate strike properly before he got run out to a Harry Brook throw.
However, Jadeja held one end up and added useful runs with the rest of the batters to push India to 170-8 in 20 overs. Chris Jordan (4-27) and Richard Gleeson (3-15) were the wicket-takers for England.
Brief scores: India 170/8 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 46 not out, Rohit Sharma 31; Chris Jordan 4-27) beat England 121 all out in 17 overs (Moeen Ali 35, David Willey 33 not out; Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 3/15) by 49 runs.
