India plot more spin agony for England

Cardiff, July 5: A dominant opening win has set the tone and India would look to ensure that a spinwary England remain on the back foot when the two sides clash in the second T20 International, here on Friday.

Kuldeep Yadav took 5/24 and K.L. Rahul scored an unbeaten second T20I ton as the Men in Blue produced a fine all-round display to stun the hosts by eight wickets in Manchester for an early lead on this tour. A win on the morrow will seal the three-match series for Virat Kohli and Co.

In fact, India stand on the cusp of a sixth successive T20I series’ win — a run stretching back to their 2-1 win over New Zealand at home in November 2017. In all, they have been unbeaten in bilateral T20I series since September last year.

In terms of ICC rankings, a 2-0 series’ lead will allow India to close the gap with second-placed Australia, while a 3-0 whitewash will help them overleap to second behind top-ranked Pakistan.

Australia will have to win both their next two games in the ongoing triseries in Zimbabwe to stay above India.

The big question facing England is how to contend with the unorthodox wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav.

In the aftermath of their loss on Tuesday, both skipper Eoin Morgan and ace batsman Jos Buttler have urged their team mates to show more patience at the crease and watch the ball carefully.

But with such a short turnaround in the fixtures’ list, it is easier said than done.

The English camp will deploy the services of spin-bowling machine ‘Merlyn’ at Cardiff. A scarcity of unorthodox wrist spinners to practice against, is one of the key reasons for this move, as the spin-bowling machine is capable of replicating every style of delivery.

An English team last used it ahead of the 2005 Ashes, when they were practising to contend with Shane Warne.

A key reason underlined by Morgan after the first defeat was that the middle-order batsmen, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, who both got stumped off successive googlies, needed more time to settle in.

Despite the loss, one of the key strengths for England is their toporder’s ability to handle pace and they would like another fast start at Cardiff.

—AP India started their campaign on a dominant note, beating the hosts by eight wickets in the first game of a threematch T20 series at Old Trafford in Manchester on Tuesday.