England outgunned in second T20
ENGLAND were outgunned in the second T20 against India as debutant Ishan Kishan and captain Virat Kohli squared the series with some electric batting in Ahmedabad.
Eoin Morgan’s side posted 164 for six, Jason Roy top-scoring for the second time in three days with 46, but it was not enough to prevent a confident seven-wicket win.
Ishan smashed four sixes and five fours in a name-making 56 at the top of the order while Kohli finished unbeaten on 73.
Ending things with a mighty pulled six off Chris Jordan, Kohli left 13 balls unused as he put the finishing touches to his latest masterful white-ball chase.
England’s attack lacked teeth and missed the raw speed of Mark Wood, absent with a bruised left heel. His replacement, Tom Curran, sent down two overs for 26 but was not alone in being dominated.
Having sent England in, India picked up a big early scalp as a minor misjudgement of line left Jos Buttler lbw to Bhuveneshwar Kumar for a golden duck.
After that setback, England would have been content with their powerplay effort of 44 for one, with Roy and Dawid Malan setting a competitive foundation.
After 10 overs England looked well set at 83 for two, but Roy narrowly missed out on a half-century for the second knock in a row when he lifted Sundar for a steepling legside catch.
India tightened up impressively at the death, allowing just two boundaries and 35 runs from the final five overs.
India found things even harder at the start of the reply, Sam Curran starting with a priceless wicketmaiden that ended with KL Rahul’s tame edge behind. But, after taking just six runs from the first two overs, Ishan and Kohli powered through the gears.
One after another Jordan, Tom Curran and Stokes entered the attack and one after another they saw the run-rate climb, with their respective overs shipping 12, 16 and 17.
Ishan’s hugely impressive introduction ended when he was trapped leg before while switching his stance. Sam Curran wrapped up his allocation impressively, finishing with one for 22, but with Kohli settled and Rishabh Pant smashing 26 in a care-free 13-ball stay, the game had slipped.
With the heavy lifting done, Kohli shepherded his side over the line, bringing things to a close in a blaze of glory – whipping the offcolour Jordan through square leg then thrashing a short ball into the stands.