India completed yet another thrashing of England, defeating them by 49 runs in the 2nd T20I. The match was set up by Ravindra Jadeja’s highest T20I score, as his unbeaten 46-run inning took India to a par score. England faltered in the Powerplay, again, losing three wickets, including a first-ball duck for Jason Roy. England could never recover from a poor Powerplay and were bundled out in 17 overs. We will analyse stats from the 2nd T20I to take you through India’s series-winning match.
India’s Powerplay approach
For two consecutive games, India have shown a changed batting approach – attacking from the start. The focus hasn’t been just on quick starts but on sustaining the aggression irrespective of the wickets that fall as a result of it. Like the 1st T20I, India again had a 60+ run Powerplay.
Rishabh Pant replacing Ishan Kishan turned out to be the like-for-like replacement as he opened the batting for the first time in T20I. His free-flowing batting alongside an aggressive Rohit Sharma set up India’s rapid Powerplay.
A dream debut
Richard Gleeson might be 34 years old, but his bowling on debut showed his healthy domestic experience. He has the second-highest wickets (23) in this year’s T20 Blast, and that form clearly carried over for England. It was a dream debut for Gleeson, with his first eight balls resulting in wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Pant.
The Edgbaston pitch wasn’t as easy to bat on as the one in Southampton. With his hit-the-deck kind of bowling, Gleeson focused on bowling on a short to short of good length. 93% of his balls in his first three overs were bowled in those lengths. Gleeson’s figures of 3/15 are now the second-best for any Englishman on debut in T20I.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s Powerplay exploits
Once again, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who rocked England early. After dismissing Jos Buttler for a golden duck in the first match, Kumar dismissed his partner, Jason Roy, off the first ball of England’s innings. In his next over, he removed Buttler as well, finishing the Powerplay with 2/11 off two overs.
Kumar’s Powerplay form isn’t newfound. For bowlers to have bowled at least 1000 balls in all T20s, Kumar’s Powerplay economy rate of 5.83 is the best in the world. Even in T20Is, his 5.61 RPO returns in Powerplay for any bowler with a minimum of 500 balls is second to none. Kumar was rightly adjudged the Player of the Match for his miserly three-over spell of 3/15.
India have now thumped England in back-to-back matches. On Sunday, India will look to achieve a rare whitewash against England. Their changed approach has certainly added a lot of flair to their T20I game, but it’s the bowlers who have been the game-winners.
