India no match for England in T20

Manchester: Eoin Morgan’s 49 runs off 27 balls helped the England team to easily beat India in the Twenty20 international match on Wednesday. Left handed, Morgan started to chase 166 for the team and stroked seven fours and a six.

Morgan added on 73 runs for the fourth wicket with Ravi Bopara (31 not out) off only 49 balls to lead England to a commendable victory despite Ajinkya Rahane’s 61 off 39 balls.

Jade Dernbach (four for 22) and captain Stuart Broad (two for 37) helped the hosts with a spell of wickets as the visitors scored only 61 runs, losing nine wickets from the final eight overs. Thirty-three of them were scored by Suresh Raina who marked Tim Bresnan and Broad for special attention, smashing them for three sixes, as he took only 19 balls for his cameo.

The hosts actually gave Indians a lesson in Twenty20 cricket as they scored their runs with a mix of defense and attack. The visitors, in contrast, appeared to play to the gallery and largely got their runs in fours and sixes — as many as 92 of 165 came off boundaries.

England lost debutant Alex Hales (0) to Praveen Kumar off only the second ball of the innings but experienced Kevin Petersen gave a momentum to the innings with a stroke-filled 33 off 23 balls with five fours.

Petersen and opener Craig Kieswetter (18) guided England to 54 for one in the power-play but then the hosts lost both of them in the space of three runs to bring the match back on an even keel. Kieswetter offered a simple catch at short cover and Petersen was stumped off the first ball by Virat Kohli. Morgan then seized back the initiative with 17 runs off Rohit Sharma in the ninth over of the innings, slamming the part-time off-spinner for two fours and a massive six over mid-on.

England was 90 for three at the end of the 10th over. They took two balls more than India did for their 100 runs — 68 balls to India’s 66 balls. Morgan played a sagacious knock but departed unhappily as he believed Rohit Shem at point hadn’t caught him cleanly off Munaf Patel. But after Morgan departed at 134 for four in the 16th over, the hosts needed just 32 off 29 balls.

Bopara and Samit Patel (25 not out) then ran briskly between the wickets and hit the odd boundaries to bring the equation to 13 from the final two overs. Munaf Patel bowled the penultimate over, a brilliant effort as he approved only three runs from the over. Needing 10 off the final over, bowled by Vinay Kumar, the first delivery was a wide and the next three were hit for fours by Patel as England reached home with three balls to spare.

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