England vs India, 2nd T20I, Top Performances: Ravindra Jadeja’s 46, Bhuvneshwar’s 3-15, Jasprit Bumrah’s 2-10, Chris Jordan 4-27 and Richard Gleeson’s 3-15 are top performances. India lead series by 2-0.
Brief Scores: India 170/8 (Jadeja 46*, Rohit 31, Jordan 4-27, Gleeson 3-15) beat England 121 (Mooen 35, Bhuvneshwar 3-15, Bumrah 2-10) by 49 runs and lead series 2-0
Player of the Match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-15 in his three overs)
After a comprehensive victory in the first T20I, India took on England, aiming for another series win with a triumph in the second T20I at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to bowl first. The hosts handed a debut cap to 34-year-old Lancashire pacer, Richard Gleeson besides bringing David Willey in the side leaving out Reece Topley and Tymal Mills.
India, on the other hand, included their four main players – Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant – in the playing eleven.
Top Indian bowling provides them an unassailable 2-0 lead
India went off to a flier with an opening partnership of 49 between Rohit Sharma and new opener Rishabh Pant before losing three huge wickets to be reduced to 61/3 after seven overs. They kept on losing wickets since that point but Ravindra Jadeja’s terrific rescue innings of unbeaten 46 in just 29 balls carried India to 170/8 after their allotted 20 overs.
England didn’t have a great start losing Jason Roy on the first ball before watching captain Jos Buttler walking back cheaply. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals being restricted to 60-6 in 10.2 overs. However, Mooen Ali did try to smack a few boundaries but it proved too much as India pocketed another T20I match by 49 runs.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the second T20I between England and India.
Debutant Gleeson and Jordan combo returned with 7-42 in eight overs to puncture India
The start from India’s openers seemed to fire them over 200 before Buttler installed 34-year-old debutant Richard Gleeson into the attack in the fifth over.
Even after going for a boundary off his second ball, Gleeson got rid of India captain Rohit Sharma with a short delivery as his maiden T20I wicket, before pocketing Virat Kohli on 1 thanks to an excellent backward running catch from Dawid Malan. On the very next ball, the Lancashire pacer found the inside edge of Rishabh Pant, as Buttler grabbed a regulation catch behind the stumps. His second over was a wicket maiden.
Richard Gleeson, who didn’t play professional cricket till he was 27 and was considering retirement eight months ago due to a back injury, ended with figures of 3-15 in his four overs.
He was well supported by Chris Jordan, who too snatched two wickets on consecutive balls, dismissing Suryakumar Yadav with a short ball for the second time in T20I before surprising Hardik Pandya too with a short ball to get him for the second time in T20Is.
Later, Jordan who is the highest T20I wicket-taker for England, with two more wickets, ended with 4-27 in his four overs to restrict India to 170/8.
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Jadeja rescued India with late cameo of 29-ball 46*
India, even after a flying start, lost their way in the middle being reduced to 89/5 at the halfway mark when Ravindra Jadeja made his way to the middle.
Jadeja started off in a very positive manner with singles and doubles between earning those few boundaries in the middle. He cracked a great boundary off Jordan but started getting frustrated with wickets falling from the other end. He turned the heat in the last two overs with couple of more boundaries besides taking those quick doubles.
Jadeja, who has an average of 111 thanks to being not out on many occasions in 2022 which is most by any player, with his magical knock of 46* in 29 balls laced with five boundaries propelled India to 170/8 which proved to be a par score for the wicket.
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Bhuvi-Bumrah broke England’s back in the powerplay
Defending a decent target, India required a great start and Bhuvneshwar Kumar offered them exactly that with a wicket on the very first ball of the innings with an inswinger that took the edge of Jason Roy’s bat to die in the hands of first slip; it was the second time Bhuvi got Roy in T20Is. It was also the 14th time Bhuvi earned a T20I wicket in the 1st over for India.
In Bhuvi’s very next over, Buttler departed too after edging Bhuvneshwar Kumar on 4; this was the fifth time in T20Is and twice in the series Buttler was undone off Bhuvi scoring at a strike rate of just 93.8 in 32 balls. After becoming the first bowler in T20I history to bowl 500 dot balls in powerplays, he dismissed Gleesson too.
Bhuvi was assisted well by Jasprit Bumrah who bewildered Liam Livingstone with a great ball to send his stumps flying. Coming back in the 11th over, Bumrah, who has most maiden overs (9) in T20Is, got rid of Sam Curran on 2.
Bumrah finished the match with figures of 2-10 in his three overs while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the player of the series in India’s home T20I series against South Africa, returned figures of 3-15 in his three overs as India grabbed an easy win by 49 runs.
What’s to Come
India will look for a whitewash taking on England for the third T20I of the three-match T20I series at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on July 10.
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