Report: India vs England – 2nd T20I
First Published : 22 Dec 2012, 23:30
Last Modified : 23 Dec 2012, 00:29
Skipper Eoin Morgan (49* off 26 balls) secured a dramatic last-ball win for England in the second Twenty20 International against India at the Wankhede Stadium. He charged down the ground to smash a straight six off Ashoke Dinda to cap off a six-wicket victory chasing 178.
Morgan missed his half-century by a run, but denied India their first stint at the top of the ICC Twenty20 International rankings; had the Indians won both T20Is against England and the upcoming two against Pakistan, they would have been catapulted to No.1 from their current No.3 ranking.
England’s chase got off to a fiery start, not in the least, due to Indian pacers erring on the shorter side with their lengths. Parvinder Awana, in particular, had a match to forget – he conceded a four fielding in the deep in the first over, was taken for 42 runs in four overs and put down a dolly at deep square-leg in the third over to reprieve Alex Hales.
Hales, who top scored for England in the first T20I, played a significant role once again, making 42 off 33 balls en route an 80-run opening stand with Michael Lumb (50 off 34 balls)
Lumb made the most of the Indians’ lack of discipline with the ball and in the field, to register his maiden T20I fifty. He dispatched the various short and wide deliveries dished out by the two Indian pacers through point, third-man and deep square-leg. R Ashwin too was treated to the tune of a six and a four in an over. Immediately after getting to his 50, Lumb got stumped. Yuvraj Singh once again got the breakthrough in his first over.
Yuvraj’s golden arm struck again and he made it two in two by getting rid of Luke Wright (5). He eventually finished his four overs with impressive figures of 3/17. What separated Yuvraj from India’s specialist spinners – Ashwin (0/38) and Piyush Chawla (0/30) – was his persistent off-and-middle stump line and fuller length.
Earlier, after Morgan elected to field first, Tim Bresnan and Jade Dernbach did their best to exploit the bounce from the Wankhede wicket in the powerplay. The ploy paid off as Ajinkya Rahane holed out to a rising delivery from Dernbach in the second over.
Virat Kohli announced himself at the crease with an on-drive and a smack down the point for fours. He added to the exquisite display of batsmanship with controlled pulls, immaculately timed cover drives and some more wristy elegance. As a result, Luke Wright’s first over yielded 20 runs.
Virat raced to 38 off 20 balls with the help of seven boundaries. The treat of an innings ended when he missed an attempted flick off Stuart Meaker to be trapped lbw. During his attractive cameo, Virat overtook Michael Clarke as the highest international run-getter in 2012.
Virat’s dismissal brought India’s run-rate down considerably. England took the advantage and chipped away with quick wickets. India’s hero of the first T20I, Yuvraj Singh (4), perished to a short, wide ball from Wright. Next to go was Gautam Gambhir (17), who top-edged a short ball from Wright.
Rohit Sharma (24), picked in this game over Ravindra Jadeja, looked in ominous form as was evident from a mighty straight six and a cracking cover-drive for four. However, James Tredwell cut short what looked like a promising innings by rearranging his stumps. Just into the 15th over, India were 108/4.
Suresh Raina (35* off 24 balls) and MS Dhoni (38 off 18 balls) then took the game by the scruff and changed it to their liking with a 60-run partnership from 27 balls. Raina took some time to get his eye in, before launching three fours and a six in the 16th over, to Meaker to fetch 20 runs off it.
Dhoni was all brute power as he blazed away on the on-side. His knock included two huge sixed – a hook and a hit over long-off – Dernbach in the 18th over. After carting Bresnan for a four over square-leg in the next over, he holed out at midwicket mistiming a heave.
Dernbach and Wright picked up a couple of wickets each while Tredwell, Wright and Meaker got a scalp each.
Man of the Match: England skipper, Eoin Morgan, for his match-winning unbeaten 49 runs off 26 balls.
Man of the Series: Yuvraj Singh for six wickets and 42 runs in two matches
Brief scores: England 181/4 (Michael Lumb 50, Eoin Morgan 49*, Yuvraj Singh 3/17) beat India 177/8 (MS Dhoni 38, Virat Kohli 38, Jade Dernbach 2/37) by six wickets
