Twitter Reactions: India's Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan level the series with an emphatic win over England

India bounced back with a comprehensive victory after outperforming England in every department of the game in the second T20I.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan
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Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/Getty Images)

India bounced back with a comprehensive victory after outperforming England in every department of the game in the second T20I. Coming after a disappointing opening game, the hosts tweaked their playing combination by handing debuts to Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan at the expense of Shikhar Dhawan and Axar Patel. Having won the toss, Virat Kohli opted to put in England and Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck on the third delivery, trapping Jos Buttler lbw to ensure that India was rewarded at the earliest. Despite a jittery start on a sluggish surface, Dawid Malan and Jason Roy got England up and running, picking a four and six, respectively.

While Malan looked at ease, driving and punching Washington Sundar and later Hardik Pandya, it was Jason Roy who seemed out of sorts as he attempted a slew of uncharacteristic and premeditated reverse sweeps off Chahal. After a few vexatious misses, he broke loose when Chahal missed his line and was deservedly deposited over mid-wicket for a maximum. Malan survived a huge lbw shout in the eight over off Chahal, only to be dismissed in a similar fashion on the succeeding ball after India reviewed their shout successfully.

England struggle for momentum

While England did not manage another big partnership after the 63-run collaboration for the second wicket, crucial twenty-run stands gradually took them towards 165. Roy, unflustered by Malan’s exit, scored a couple of audacious boundaries, however, a spectacular fielding effort by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the deep off Sundar’s bowling led to his end soon. England gained the somewhat lost momentum in the 14-run 13th over, when Morgan teed off against Shardul Thakur, although Bairstow holed out to deep square leg in the following over off Sundar to leave his team in a tricky situation.

India managed to tie up England’s scoring – they hit only a single four between overs 14 to 19, scoring merely 29 runs – and their hopes for a strong finish were dented by Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who varied their pace, bowling at disciplined lines to nag the batsmen further. While Thakur accounted for Morgan’s wicket on a slower one, as the skipper was attempting to give himself room to clear the fielder at extra cover, only to find Rishabh Pant’s gloves, Bhuvneshwar struck in the final over as Ben Stokes picked out Hardik Pandya at long-on.

Kohli-Kishan make things merry for India

Chasing a tricky target, India made a nervy start as an impatient KL Rahul, who played three consecutive dots, dallied with a Sam Curran delivery that was leaving him and Jos Buttler behind the wickets did the rest. Despite the early fall, Ishan Kishan exuded confidence, exhibiting a perfect example of shed caution for aggression, as he flicked and pulled the English pacers with utter disdain.

While the struggle is not a word that one would often associate with Virat Kohli, after two ducks, he, too, held the game by its collar, not letting the scoring drop even momentarily. Anything short was pulled conveniently, whereas India ensured to not miss out when England overpitched. They had an opportunity to restrict an on-song Ishan Kishan when he mistimed a hit towards long-on, although, in one of the rare sights at the cricketing field, Ben Stokes dropped a dolly.

Runs kept coming at a fair tick with both Kohli and Kishan merrily going along, although Kishan played one shot too many immediately after reaching his half-century through back-to-back sixes. While he was unsuccessful in reverse sweeping Adil Rashid and was resultantly dismissed lbw, an aggressive Rishabh Pant, through his brisk cameo 13-ball 26 cameo, ensured that India did not lose momentum.

When he decided to flick Jordan and instead edged the ball to Bairstow at deep mid-wicket, the chase was more or less finished. Virat Kohli, who notched up his half-century with a glorious six off Tom Curran over long-on, joined forces with Shreyas Iyer to take India across the line. He whipped Jordan off his pads for a four and deposited a wristy flick over fine leg for six to bring India at a level in the series.

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