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India vs England 2nd T20 match has been concluded at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. Shreyas Iyer’s team’s poor performance in T20I matches continues as the captain is still looking for his first win as T20I captain for the team. England has taken the lead in the 5-match T20 series by defeating India by 4 wickets in the second T20 match.
Shreyas Iyer once again won the toss and decided to bat first. The Men in Blue made just one change, the much-awaited debut of Vaibhav Suryavanshi, as Sanju Samson made way for Sanju Samson, the youngest ever to make his official debut for the senior India men’s cricket team at the age of 15 years and 99 days.
Abhishek Sharma’s purple patch continues
After electing to bat first, Vaibhav and Abhishek Sharma got off to a great start, scoring 50 runs inside the first five overs, with both hitting the ball hard. Despite a good start, Suryavanshi failed to score big in his first match and was out after scoring 14 runs in 10 balls. Abhishek continued the attack and was out after scoring 43 runs in 24 balls.
Later, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan put on a 65-run partnership in 42 balls as Iyer departed after scoring 37 runs in 22 balls with three fours and a six, putting India in a good position. Shivam Dubey could not get going on a slow and difficult wicket and was out on five runs.
Kishan also fell one short of his half-century and was out after scoring 49 runs in 40 balls. Tilak Verma’s quickfire 24 off 11 balls helped the Men in Blue post 190/7 in 20 overs on a sticky wicket in the middle overs.
Jacob Bethell stands tall for England
Shreyas Iyer’s team got off to a great start while chasing the target, with Phil Salt getting out for a golden duck and Arshdeep Singh taking a wicket on the first ball of the second innings. Jos Buttler followed his fellow opener as he too was out for a duck in three balls as Arshdeep took his second wicket in the first over.
Then Harry Brook counter-attacked Arshdeep Singh and scored 27 runs in the third over of the game. He played a explosive inning of 38 runs in 14 balls and was dismissed by Axar Patel, who completed his 100 T20I wickets after taking the dangerous wicket.
The 67-run partnership between Tom Banton and Jacob Bethel was broken by Arshdeep, who dismissed Tom Banton for 39 runs. Bethel played an unbeaten inning of 76 runs with the help of 5 fours and as many sixes in 46 balls and won the match for the team with one over to spare.
“I think we all know where it went” – Shreyas Iyer points to game-changing over in loss against England
Shreyas Iyer points out that India were in a good position in the game till the 15th over, but Ravi Bishnoi’s 29-run over changed the course of the match and England snatched the game as the India captain praised Jacob Bethell’s innings.
Shreyas Iyer said, “I think we all know where it went, but I don’t want to point to any particular player. I thought, OK he will come back strong after that (first no ball). But the 17th over troubled us. But he will learn. I think it was a phenomenal score with variable bounce on this pitch.”
“In the first 15 overs we were on top of the game, but suddenly – credit to the way Jacob played. He analyzed the dimensions of the ground and the wicket right at the start. He was bowling just outside the off stump, and it was very well planned (Curran).
“He has that dogged attitude where he is fearless. The way he bats in the nets… there is something to be learned from him. I was not expecting him to be nervous. Of course, I am always in high spirits and I know this is the lowest level you can do.”