India vs England 2020-21, 2nd T20I: Kishan's debut heroic, Kohli's resurgence scripts memorable win for India

First Published Mar 14, 2021, 8:56 PM IST

India and England continue their exciting rivalry in a five-match Twenty20 International series. India has levelled the series 1-1, as it looks to win the series at 4-1 to rise to the top of the ICC T20I Rankings, currently held by England. The matches are being held in Ahmedabad.

Team India showed England just how capable it is of bouncing back during the second Twenty20 International at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The host beat the visitor by seven wickets, as opener Ishan Kishan's prolific innings of 56 on debut made the difference, along with Virat Kohli's resurgence with a knock of an unbeaten 73.
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Winning the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli elected to bowl first, as he made a couple of changes, with Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan coming in. As for England, captain Eoin Morgan made a change, with pacer Tom Curran replacing fellow pacer Mark Wood.
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The visitor was off to a shaky start, with wicketkeeper-opening batsman Jos Buttler falling for an unfortunate duck to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who trapped him leg-before in the opening over. It was then followed by a 63-run stand between Roy and Dawid Malan before the latter was dismissed for 24 by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in a similar manner during the ninth over.
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Although a few chances went against India, including some dropped catches, it was in the 12th over when Roy fell four runs short of his second T20I half-century, as Bhuvneshwar caught him off spinner Washington Sundar for 46, while the score read 913. It was then 28 runs later when Jonny Bairstow departed for 20 the same man after being caught by Suryakumar Yadav in the 14th over.
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While Morgan and all-rounder Ben Stokes looked to bat until the end, it was at 142 when the former was dismissed for 28 by pacer Shardul Thakur after being caught behind by Rishabh Pant in the 18th over. Meanwhile, 18 runs later, Stokes departed for 24, as he handed an ambitious effort to Hardik Pandya off the same man in the final over. Simultaneously, Sam Curran and Chris Jordan stayed unbeaten until the end to finish on 1646.
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As for the Indians, they utilised five bowlers, with Sundar and Thakur being the most effective. In the meantime, Bhuvneshwar was the most economical of all.Brief scores: England 1646 (Roy 46; Sundar 229, Thakur 229) vs India
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As India came out to bat, it was off to a jittery start, losing opener KL Rahul for an unfortunate duck in the opening over after being caught behind by Buttler off pacer Sam Curran. Nonetheless, it was followed by a grand 94-run stand between Kishan and Kohli, which completely derailed England's bid to win this tie.
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As Kishan brought up his maiden T20I half-century on debut, his sublime hitting all over the park was a gem to watch. He fell for 56 to spinner Adil Rashid, who trapped him leg-before in the tenth over.
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As Pant joined Kohli, the former slammed a 13-ball 26 before departing at 130 off Chris Jordan, as a half-hearted effort forced the ball to rise high in the air and was easily collected by Bairstow. In came Shreyas Iyer, and along with Kohli, the duo batted out until the end to easily win by seven wickets, while the latter also brought up his 26th T20I half-century.
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For the Englishmen, six bowlers were utilised, with Sam Curran being the most economical of all.Brief scores: England 1646 (Roy 46; Sundar 229, Thakur 229) lost to India 1663 (Kishan 56, Kohli 73*; Sam Curran 122) by seven wickets.
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