BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck three times as a spirited bowling display from the touring side helped them outclass England by 49 runs in the second Twenty20 at Edgbaston yesterday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Bhuvneshwar (3-15) rocked England early in their pursuit of 171, removing Jason Roy with the first ball and then his fellow opener and England captain Jos Buttler, before Yuzvendra Chahal (2-10) chipped in with two wickets to leave the home side struggling on 55-5.
Moeen Ali (35) and David Willey (33) kept England afloat with entertaining cameos but a flurry of wickets meant that they were bowled out for 121 in 17 overs.
“When the ball swings, you definitely enjoy. In the last few years, there is not much help with the ball in England but this year it’s more,” said Bhuvneshwar, who was named player of the match.
“White ball getting swing upfront is a motivational factor for fast bowlers, and batters have to take their chances.”
Earlier, India’s bold new approach to T20 cricket was on show again after they were put in to bat as Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant got stuck into the England attack from the outset, accumulating 61 runs in the powerplay.
But that early momentum was halted by paceman Richard Gleeson (3-15), who revelled in a dream debut by claiming the prized scalps of Rohit (31), Virat Kohli (1) and Pant (26) in the space of four balls.
Suryakumar Yadav (15) and Hardik Pandya (12) also departed early, both falling to Chris Jordan (4-27), as England mounted a strong recovery before a 29-ball 46 from Ravindra Jadeja helped India finish on an imposing 170-8.
“Brilliant knock (from Jadeja) under pressure. We wanted someone to bat through and get us a score, Jadeja had scored a hundred here (in the fifth test) and he carried on from there,” said Indian captain Rohit.
“At no point we were feeling he was panicking. Was good to finish on a score we thought was par on that surface.”
The teams play one more game at Trent Bridge today.
