Fifties from Virat Kohli (73*) and Ishan Kishan (56) helped Team India beat England by seven wickets in the 2nd T20I and draw level at 1-1 in the five-match series. Kohli, in the process, completed 3000 T20I runs and became the first cricketer to get to that milestone. Kishan also a fifty on his T20I debut and became only the second Indian to do so. More about the 2nd T20I report in detail below.
The England bowlers had no answer to India’s attacking intent with the bat which Kohli referred to in the first match. Shreyas Iyer also echoed the same sentiment at the post-match press conference after the first game. they played with the same template in the second game and learn from their mistakes as well.
Virat Kohli Anchors India To A Win In 2nd T20I
Virat Kohli yet again anchored an Indian chase and scored the winning runs as India beat England in the second T20I to draw level in the series. India made the chase of 164 look easy with their top-order firing. Virat Kohli got able support from Kishan who scored a T20I fifty on his debut. Kohli-Kishan added a 93 run-stand for the second wicket to set up the chase. A cameo from Rishabh Pant (26) then was the icing on the cake as Kohli ended the game in style with a six.
Apart from the early wicket of KL Rahul, the England bowlers were made to work hard. Strike bowler Jofra Archer bowling a wicketless spell kind of summed up their performance in the match. All the bowlers went for runs Kishan and Kohli sever on Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid. The Indian skipper was a tad lucky to survive a close call off the bowling of Rashid when the latter got him stumped.
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Earlier in the game, India won the toss and opted to field first. The pitch in the second game was a bit on the slower side. Jason Roy made an attacking start to the England innings and once again fell in his 40’s. he scored 46 in the second game after scoring a 49 in the first. Dawid Malan (24), Jonny Bairstow (20), Ben Stokes (24) and Eoin Morgan (28) made contributions to take the England score to 164/6. Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur took two wickets each as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal picked one each.
England skipper Eoin Morgan said that his side scored a par total but credited the Indian bowlers for the way they bowled on this wicket.
“We were probably in and around par, but India bowled well and there’s slightly less pace today on the pitch. They put us on the back foot from the start and pace off the ball is always challenging for players” said Morgan.
Ishan Kishan for his powerpacked 56 was adjuged as the Man of The Match. This was India’s tenth win in run chases in T20Is since July 2019.
India 166 for 3 (Kohli 73*, Kishan 56) beat England 164 for 6 (Roy 46) by seven wickets
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