Eoin Morgan fires for lions

England bowlers cashed in on the questionable shot selection of the Indian batsmen to restrict the hosts to 147 for seven, before Morgan led from front with a 51 off 38 balls to set up an emphatic win for his team. Joe Root too played his part well to remain unbeaten with run–a-ball 46 as England overhauled the 148-run target with 11 balls to spare. 

Having found some momentum after their first win of the tour in Kolkata, England will now eye a series win in shortest format. England, with their long batting line-up, were expected to chase down a target of 148 with little difficulty. Their destructive openers Sam Billings (22) and Jason Roy (19) provided a flying start with the visitors racing to 36 for no loss in three overs. Jasprit Bumrah was the first to be at the receiving end after Ashish Nehra bowled a tidy first over. 

Billings was on fire from ball one as he smashed Bumrah for 20 runs in the second over. His stand out strike was the six over fine leg as he exposed all his stumps to dispatch the ball just over the ropes. Roy was not to be left behind. In a sublime display of clean hitting, he hammered Nehra for a six over long off to make his intentions clear. 

Kohli realized the ball was coming on nicely on the bat off pacers, therefore he slowed with spinners at both ends. The ploy worked immediately with leggie Yuvendra Chahal finding the stumps of both the dangerous openers in his first over, bringing the silent crowd back to life. It was also a big moment for Jammu and Kashmir’s sporting posterboy Parveez Rasool from the other end as he was making his T20 debut after playing his only international match way back in June 2014. 

Earlier, Indian batsmen were found struggling against a disciplined England bowling attack which restricted the hosts at 147 for 7. Loss of wickets at regular interval did not allow India to accelerate even though MS Dhoni’s 36 off 27 balls towards the end helped them get closer to 150.