England bowlers bowled in the very disciplined way in the second T20I of the three-match T20I series at Sophia Gardens (Cardiff) as they restricted the Indian cricket team for 148/5 at the end of the first 20 overs.
Coming to this game with the 0-1 trail in this series, English captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to field first. India had very poor start as they lost their three top-order batsmen for just 22 runs on the board.
Opener Rohit Sharma (5 runs) departed in the second over of that innings while the other opener Shikhar Dhawan (10 runs) lost his wicket through an unlucky run-out. No.3 batsman KL Rahul threw his wicket as the English pacer Liam Plunket bowled him. At the end of the powerplay, India was struggling on 31/3.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the middle-order batsman Suresh Raina took the responsibility to makeover that innings with a solid partnership. The duo put a crucial 57-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but Raina was stumped out at the crucial stage after scoring 27 runs off 20 balls.
Kohli carried that innings in a responsible way and played an important knock of 47 runs off 38 balls with one four and two sixes.
MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya added some important runs on the board at the last moment that helped the team to reach the close of 150-mark. India scored 55 runs in the last five overs while they scored 22 runs in the final over of that innings.
Dhoni remained unbeaten on 32 runs off 24 balls (5 fours) while Hardik Pandya was not out on 12 off 10 balls (only six).
Among the English bowlers, David Willey (1/18), Jake Ball (1/44), Liam Plunkett (1/17) and Adil Rashid (1/29) all picked up one wicket each.
Here are some Twitter reactions of that innings:
30 runs fewer than what India would have wanted on this pitch, but 148 — thanks to Kohli and Dhoni — provides a fighting chance
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 6, 2018
Missed a half century unfortunately, but since he's batted superbly and run brilliantly between the wickets, one can safely assume that @imVkohli's neck problem is a thing of the past
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 6, 2018
England showing how local knowledge helps. Short straight boundaries and very long square. Have packed their side with tall fast bowlers banging the ball in. Very unusual pitch maps as a result.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/msdaddicts/status/1015281095846256640
Dinesh karthik should be added instead of Test player Dhoni ! Why is he in the team #ENGvsIND
— . (@babatharkiii) July 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/Divya190697/status/1015276033552117761
https://twitter.com/msdaddicts/status/1015298506313981953
https://twitter.com/ModuSir/status/1015299132859338752
@msdhoni is 45 minutes short of turning 37 and look how quick he's between the wickets!!
Just amazing.#INDvENG #ENGvIND #INDvsENG #ENGvsIND— Sukhinder Singh Anand (@AnandSukhinder) July 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/meetdspartan/status/1015281608549699584
Dhoni-Kohli running between the wickets is Yo-Yo!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 6, 2018
