Bumrah: I tried to assess the wicket. On this wicket, I thought it's a big ground and it's on the slower side, so back of a length deliveries worked well. We all know what Buttler is capable of, but I was trying to stick to my plan. Tried to bowl stump to stump. Back of a length deliveries on the stumps were tough to hit. There was significant dew. Didn't expect so much. The wicket was up and down so back of a length deliveries worked well. Captain's confidence always helps. He's given me the freedom of doing whatever I want to.
Jasprit Bumrah is Man of the Match
Kohli: It's important to have belief. It was a case of us executing really well in the beginning. Bumrah and Nehra were outstanding in the end. To defend 40 in five overs with dew present is outstanding. Raina bowled four for us so we didn't have to bowl Pandya with the wet ball. Strong character shown by the side, something I am proud of. Nehra is an experienced performer, he knows what to do. Bumrah was asking me what to do every ball. It was an outstanding innings from Rahul on a pitch where shot-making was difficult. He's one player who has all the shots in the book. It's like my second home, can't wait to go there. Some things we need to tighten up but all in all a very good performance.
Morgan: We were in the driving seat right up until the last over. Didn't start the over well. A decision went against us. Fair play to Bumrah to produce a match winning over. These last two games, we've been right on the money with the ball. All credit to the bowlers. We never let the rate get away from us in the chase. Root and Stokes played well. Unbelievably disappointing to lose this game. It's extremely competitive. Two teams not giving each other an inch.
Bumrah: It's always difficult bowling in the death. I try to focus on my good days and remember those days when I am bowling. We saw the first innings; the wicket was difficult. To clear the back of a length deliveries and slower balls out of the ground was difficult. We were trying to execute that. I try to stick to my basics. The ball was getting wet, so bowling yorkers was difficult. Hence I bowled back of a length and on the stumps..
Nehra: It was a pressure game. The only thing on my mind was to give as many runs to Jasprit (to defend) . One bad ball, one good shot and it would have been over. Hats off to the way Jasprit bowled the last over. We know how good a bowler he is with the old ball. I don't think anything was wrong with that ball (the one Buttler hit for six to cap off his spell). I did whatever best I could do. I told Bumrah that even if he goes for four (last ball), we will still win. He asked me if he should bowl a length ball but I told him to bowl a yorker outside off, with the kind he has. Even if it's a full toss, it will go for a four, not for a six. With 32 odd needed off the last 4 overs, I told him that we will win.
22:30 Local Time, 17:00 GMT, 22:30 IST: What a match! What a turnaround from Bumrah and Nehra at the end. The duo were sensational in their use of off-cutters combined with some brilliant yorkers. The off-cutters more so. England were cruising when Stokes and Root were going. But it was always going to be about one wicket on this sluggish pitch. All that into consideration, England will feel they should have got home here. Especially after plundering 16 off the penultimate over to leave just 8 to get off the final one. But it was Bumrah's day to emerge as the hero. India are alive in the series.
England have won the toss and have opted to field
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra
England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills
Virat: "Preferably wanted to bowl first, but seeing the last game against New Zealand, it became a lot difficult to chase and the wicket became slow and it was turning a lot. The pitch will deteriorate as the game progresses. We've got an extra leg spinner and use our part-timers to create pressure. For an off-spinner, we thought we could use Raina as an option, but leg spinner is someone there were finding it difficult to pick. Eight good overs from two leg spinners might be the difference. There will be turn for sure, looks like a very dry surface. First innings is the best time to bat on this surface. We are not too upset about losing the toss, as I said it's a good time to bat on. Just the one change and rest of the side are same."
Morgan: "We are going to bowl first. There is a bit of grass on it and looks like a typical Indian wicket. Plunkett misses out and Dawson is playing, we've got an extra spinner. It is coming towards the end of the tour and we are looking to finish it as well as we can. Lot of determination out there and winning in India is difficult. We aren't taking our last two wins for granted."
"I think it will turn more than it did in the T20 World Cup that was played between India and New Zealand. It is a lot drier today. England are bringing in an extra spinner. There will be dew factor for sure." analyse Sunil Gavaskar and Nasser Hussain in their pitch report
As far as the teams are concerned, England wouldn't want to tinker their winning combination much and are likely to go unchanged. Meanwhile for India, with Rahul's failure at the top, Mandeep Singh and Rishabh Pant - the two reserve batsmen in the squad who are primarily openers in the shortest form - may come into the fray. Stay tuned for toss and other updates in a while..
06:00pm local: It's unorthodox underdog's day, is it? Roger Federer was one courtesy his underwhelming Grand Slam final numbers against Rafael Nadal, and India is one too, thanks to a 7-wicket mauling at Kanpur. One has won; the other is about to take on England at Nagpur, a place set to test visiting team's strengths with spin and long boundary ropes. All's not lost. New Zealand outspun and outplayed India here in the World T20 game and there's no reason why England, with Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in the team, can't. And given that Rashid wasn't even needed in the last game, it's only fair that we see a fair bit of him. And a fair bit of contest. That's what today's T20 promises, if not escapism from the fact that we weren't physically present at the Rod Laver Arena today. Well, most of us.
Preview
England find themselves in an unfamiliar position as they head into the second Twenty20 International (T20I) on Sunday (January 29), ahead in a series for the first time on the Indian tour and with more questions for Virat Kohli to answer than for them. Few teams beat India on home soil as convincingly as Eoin Morgan's men did in Kanpur, especially in limited-overs cricket, and they head to Nagpur with a team in form and as slight favourites.
Where England's bowling was their downfall in the One-Day International (ODI) series, which India won 2-1, it was their trump card in Kanpur. The addition of Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan, both of whom conceded less than seven runs an over, gave Morgan greater control than almost any of the seamers had during the ODI series. England still have some scope for improvement though as Adil Rashid didn't bowl in the first match and Jos Buttler, their best one-day player, wasn't required to bat. There is more to come from Morgan's men.
One defeat does not mean it's panic stations for India - they have won four of their last five T20 series - but they do have some questions to answer. The batting order remains experienced and strong despite a below-par performance in the first game but the bowling attack failed to make much impression against the English batting line-up. After Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets in the fourth over, they were unable to take another until the 16th. By that time, the game was lost.
The loss may not force them to make too many changes, but whatever team they put out, it is likely India will raise their performance from the first game. Any side with Kohli, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in their batting line-up will pose a strong challenge but England also have another couple of gears to go through. A tour that has been full of brilliant and vibrant cricket has a fair bit more left in it yet.
Team News:
India:Despite tasting defeat in his first game as captain of the Indian T20I team, Kohli wouldn't prefer to make too many changes to the line-up for their do-or-die encounter. With spin expected to play a big part in Nagpur, India are likely to persist with the Chahal-Rasool combo while they also have the experience of Amit Mishra to bank on, should they opt for an extra spinner. Ashish Nehra went in excess of 10 an over in the Kanpur game and it remains to be seen if India will continue to bank on his experience or bring in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who performed well in the ODIs. Meanwhile, Kohli had also indicated that he is likely to open the batting until the return of Rohit Sharma, and considering Suresh Raina did reasonably well at No. 3 with big names like Yuvraj and Dhoni to follow, Manish Pandey is unlikely to be slotted in the top-order.
England:The visitors are unlikely to make any changes to the team which performed so well in Kanpur, especially as they can win the series with victory in Nagpur. Sam Billings will again get an opportunity to impress at the top of the order with Jason Roy and the batting order looks in fine fettle. Jordan and Mills will certainly keep their places which means Chris Woakes and Jake Ball will again sit out. Although Rashid did not bowl in the first game, a decision which was based on the game situation rather than a pre-meditated choice, he is likely to keep his place rather than being left out in favour of left-arm spinner Liam Dawson or another seamer.
Did you know?
- India lost both the T20Is they played in Nagpur - by 27 runs against Sri Lanka in 2009 and by 47 runs against New Zealand last year.
- Hardik Pandya hasn't reached double figures in his last ten innings in 20-over cricket with his scores reading 9, 9, 2, 2, 2*, 2*, 4, 7, 7 and 9.
- MS Dhoni is ten runs short of the milestone of 5000 runs in 20-over cricket. The other Indians in this club are Virat Kohli (6490 runs), Suresh Raina (6360), Rohit Sharma (6209), Gautam Gambhir (5382) and Robin Uthappa (5059).
- Among the venues for the WT20 last year, Nagpur had the highest balls per boundary ratio - 8.60.
What they said:
"The way they (England) batted in the previous game gives a plus point to the bowlers as they were trying to hit all balls" - Yuzvendra Chahal hopes to benefit from England's aggression.
"You are always disappointed when you have ambition and then not getting selected" - Chris Jordan is keen to prove a point after being snubbed for 50-over cricket
.
.
Teams:
India (From): Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Parvez Rasool, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra, Rishabh Pant, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mandeep Singh
England (From): Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, David Willey, Liam Dawson
No comments:
Post a Comment