England win one-off Twenty20 against India at Edgbaston
Monday 8 September 2014 09:04, UK
England beat India by three runs in a thrilling one-off Twenty20 international at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Having won the toss and opted to bat, the hosts made 180-7 from their 20 overs with Eoin Morgan top-scoring with a destructive innings of 71 from 31 balls that featured seven sixes.
India looked well set to chase that total down with Virat Kohli at the crease but, when he departed for 66 caught in the deep off Steven Finn, the innings lost momentum.
They required 17 from Chris Woakes' final over and although Mahendra Singh Dhoni (27 not out) smashed 12 from the first four balls, he could not find the boundary he needed at the death as the tourists finished just short on 177-5.
England debutant opener Jason Roy was cast into immediate action provided an early indication of his unorthodox talent by reverse-sweeping his second ball for a boundary as England took 17 from the first over.
But his debut innings ended on eight as he picked out Rahane at cover before Moeen Ali meekly pushed Mohit Sharma to the same fielder for a second-ball duck.
New man Joe Root was handed a life on eight when Ashwin dropped a top-edged pull as England finished the six-over powerplay at 46-2.
India then immediately turned to spin - getting 11 consecutive overs from their slow men - and succeeded in putting the brakes on England, Hales falling for 40 after Rahane produced a brilliant catch in the deep when the opener looked to find a repeat of the six he had struck a ball earlier off Ravindra Jadeja.
That brought Morgan to the crease but he soon saw Root (26) depart after mistiming a slog sweep to give leg-spinner Karn Sharma his maiden international wicket.
Jos Buttler was also unusually subdued, hitting 10 from 15 balls, as England struggled to find their flow to be 99-4 after 15 overs, but that was the cue for Morgan to take over as he equalled Ravi Bopara's England record of seven sixes in a Twenty20 innings - set on short a boundary in Hobart last winter.
Explosive hitting from Morgan
The left-hander cleared the ropes twice in one Karn Sharma over to kick-start the onslaught before reaching his sixth Twenty20 fifty from 26 balls.
When India returned to pace for the final three overs Morgan was even more effective dispatching Mohammed Shami straight and then adding two more sixes in the penultimate over from Mohit.
Eventually he fell in the last over, caught in the deep off Shami (3-38), but Bopara's own lively cameo of 21 from nine balls ensured a defendable total.
Moeen had struck in the second over of India's reply, firing a quicker ball behind Ajinkya Rahane's legs the ball after being swept for six.
India accelerated through the powerplay with Kohli stroking Woakes for a hat-trick of sixes before Shikhar Dhawan ended the first six overs by flicking Finn over the fine-leg rope.
The tourists had a solid foundation at 53-1 after the powerplay and when England turned to spin with the field restrictions lifted, India were able to milk the scoring to stay on course.
Morgan therefore turned back to pace and was rewarded when Woakes bowled Dhawan with the first ball of his second spell to end a second-wicket stand of 79 from 54 balls.
Kohli reached his first half-century of the summer from 34 balls and was given a life on 64 when Harry Gurney got fingertips on a lap-sweep, but the drop was not costly as the stylish right-hander added just one more before he failed to control a Finn bouncer allowing Hales to oblige in the deep.
England's death bowling then came to the fore; a James Tredwell over of singles was followed by four more from Gurney, who then slipped a yorker into Suresh Raina's stumps to ramp up the pressure.
Ravindra Jadeja succumbed to it as he was run out attempting a second that did not exist, and when Dhoni backed himself to take 17 from the final over Woakes dug deep to deny him.
