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The Times of India
The Times of India
Sport
Gaurav Gupta | TNN

India vs England 2nd T20I: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja star as India pocket series against England

Left hurting after the defeat in the rescheduled fifth Test against England, India have now found solace. Producing a clinical show at Edgbaston, ironically the same venue where they lost the last Test, India outplayed England by 49 runs in the second T20I on Saturday to clinch the series 2-0, reducing the third and final game in Nottingham to a dead rubber.

Having won the opening game in Southampton by 50 runs, India thus beat England for the fourth consecutive time in a T20I series. India have, in fact, never lost a series to England in this format. This was India’s 14th T20I win on the trot under Rohit Sharma, and most importantly, this solid performance will help the team gain big confidence ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia.

Almost a week after he stroked a hundred in the Test match, Ravindra Jadeja, walking in with an ultra-aggressive India in trouble at 89/5 in the 11th over, rescued his team with a timely, unbeaten 46 (29b, 5x4) that took the Men in Blue to a competitive 170/8.

Player of the Match Bhuvneshwar Kumar then once again swung the ball like a banana (3/15 in three overs), prising out England’s dangerous opening pair of Jason Roy (0) and skipper Jos Butler (4), who he got out cheaply for the second time in a row, to reduce the hosts to 11/2 in the third over.

Returning to the T20 side, pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/10) cleaned up Liam Livingstone (15) with a superb off-cutter. With leggie Yuzvendra Chahal (2-10) too getting among the wickets, England, despite Moeen Ali (35; 21b, 3x4, 2x6) and David Willey (33; 22b, 3x4, 2x6) using the long handle, crashed to 121 all out in 17 overs.

Unleashing their brand new, all-out attacking approach, India, riding on their latest opening pair in skipper Rohit Sharma (31; 20b, 3x4, 2x6) and Rishabh Pant (26; 15b, 4x4, 1x6), enjoyed a brisk, pulsating start, racing away to 49 off the first 29 balls.

In a bold move which may yet yield results, Pant was asked to open for the first time. However, the same bangbang approach seemed to backfire at one stage, as India lost five wickets for 40 runs in 35 balls.

England pacers Chris Jordan (4-27) and Richard Gleeson (3-15) fought back superbly before Jadeja helped India plunder 55 off their last five overs.

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