England vs India 2022: 2nd T20I – Who Said What

India registered yet another emphatic 49-run win in the second T20I against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham, on July 9, Saturday. In what was India skipper Rohit Sharma’s first series since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, the team took an unassailable 2-0 lead and clinched the series. On the other hand, Jos Buttler’s first assignment as the England skipper will end in a series defeat. 

England won the toss and elected to field first. India sent out a new opening pair of Rohit and Rishabh Pant, as Ishan Kishan was left out. India were off to a strong start, scoring 61 runs in the 6-over powerplay. The debutant England pacer, Richard Gleeson, got the first breakthrough, and the India skipper fell for 31 off 20 balls.

Gleeson followed it up by picking up the next two wickets, as Pant was dismissed for 26 off 15 balls and Virat Kohli for 1 off three balls. This was also Kohli’s first match for India in limited-overs since the conclusion of the IPL 2022 as he replaced Deepak Hooda in the team. India were at 89 for the loss of five wickets, after Suryakumar Yadav fell for 15 off 11 balls and Hardik Pandya for 12 off 15 balls.

Ravindra Jadeja rescues the Indian innings

Ravindra Jadeja arrived at number six and scored an unbeaten 46 off 29 balls, which turned out to be the highest score in the format. Harshal Patel chipped in with a late cameo, scoring 13 off six balls, and India amassed a total of 170 for the loss of eight wickets. Gleeson finished with three wickets for 15 runs in four overs, including a maiden over. Chris Jordan bagged four wickets for 27 runs in his four overs.

England, during the chase, lost their first wicket straightaway as Jason Roy was out the first ball facing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Buttler was dismissed by Kumar for the second time in the series, and this time for 4 runs. None of England’s top five scored more than 19 runs, and England were at 41 for the loss of four wickets in the seventh over. Moeen Ali walked in at number six and top-scored for the team with 35 off 21 balls, and David Willey, at the backend, scored an unbeaten 33 off 22 balls. England were bowled out for 121 runs in 17 overs and Bhuvneshwar was given the Man of the Match for bagging three wickets for 15 runs in three overs.

Losing skipper, Jos Buttler said:

Very disappointing. We didn’t play anywhere close to what we wanted and deserved to lose. The bowlers were excellent especially Gleeson and Jordan. Any time you lose three wickets in the powerplay it is hard to catch up. Not just the wickets but the guys he (Gleeson) got out, overall a fantastic debut. He has bowled fantastically well, CJ always bowls the pressure overs and the figures can sometimes cloud what he’s doing. We don’t have much time to reflect on it as the next game is tomorrow.

Winning skipper, Rohit Sharma said:

We know how good they are as a team, not just in England but everywhere they go. When you win games there is confidence in the group and it is important how the boys feel. I really wanted to see how we perform after a win and challenge us as a group. Brilliant knock under pressure. We wanted someone to bat through and get us a score, Jadeja had scored a hundred here and he carried on from there. He was calm and finished it well towards the end. We understand the importance of the powerplay; be it scoring runs or taking wickets. We look forward to another game tomorrow. We wanted to give guys sitting on the bench a chance, I will go back and speak to the coach about that. We need to keep ticking the boxes and move forward.

Player of the Match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar said:

When the ball swings you enjoy bowling. But if I am not wrong it has not swung much in England in the past few years. Good for me (that the white ball swung more than the red ball). He (Buttler) is a dangerous player and if he goes past the powerplay, he can score big. If the ball swings it motivates you to do well and I am confident right now. I do not want to answer it and if I am playing then something is right (when asked if he’s fit and free of all injuries).