BIRMINGHAM, July 10(ABC): Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred as India overpowered England by 49 runs to win the second Twenty20 international at Edgbaston on Saturday and so take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
England, set 171 to win, were dismissed for 121, with India swing bowler Kumar taking 3-15. Kumar set the tone from the start of England s chase, having the dangerous Jason Roy caught at slip by India captain Rohit Sharma for a first-ball duck. He followed up by having England captain Jos Buttler, one of the world s best white-ball batsmen, caught behind for just four.
And when the hard-hitting Liam Livingstone was bowled by a superb off-cutter from Jasprit Bumrah, the hosts had slumped to 27-3 inside five overs. “When the ball swings you always enjoy yourself,” Kumar, the player of the match, told Sky Sports. “In previous years in England I don t remember much help with the white-ball but this time there is swing and bounce.”
Victory meant Rohit had won his last 14 matches as India s T20 captain, with the delighted skipper saying: “We all know how good England are as a team. We knew we were in for a challenge but we were quite clinical in what we wanted to do and executed with bat and ball.”
Moeen Ali (35) and David Willey (33 not out) tried to get an England side missing several regulars, including red-ball captain Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow following a seven-wicket win over India in the Covid-delayed fifth Test at Edgbaston completed Tuesday, on track. But England kept losing wickets as the run-rate soared and the match ended with exactly three overs to spare when Harshal Patel yorked No 11 Matt Parkinson. Earlier, India made 170-8 after being sent into bat.
