END OF OVER:20 | 8 Runs | ENG: 165/9 | RR: 8.25
- Jofra Archer12 (9b)
- Mark Wood5 (3b)
- Arshdeep Singh4-0-40-1
- Hardik Pandya2-0-6-1
8:30pm A decent score for England to fight with, but will they be happy with what they have? Conditions for batting looked good. And just going by that, I think they could be short. Add the dew factor to it. But there is enough on it for bowlers and England should be quietly confident. Buttler was fluent again, so was Brook at the start and Smith was kinda other-worldly in his brief stay. But all of them found the fielders in the deep perfectly and that was the story of England's batting today.
India bowled 14 overs of spin today, the joint second-most they have in a T20I. It was not a square turner but there were enough signs that spinners have something on the surface. 166 needed for India to go 2-0 up. Will they do it easily like Axar suggested? Find out shortly with Matt on the wheel.
Axar Patel: [On the number of spinners] That's decided on the basis of the pitch and the combination of the opposition. If Arshdeep and Hardik bowl well with the new ball, we have the luxury of bowling a lot of spin. Chaseable target, 180-185 would have been challenging, this should be an easy chase. You can move around and hit it well through the line, the ball is coming nicely onto the bat."
Ronak Meisheri: "Playing safely would have got Eng about the same score. Attacking at least gave them a chance to score more."
END OF OVER:19 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | ENG: 157/9 | RR: 8.26
- Jofra Archer9 (6b)
- Hardik Pandya2-0-6-1
- Arshdeep Singh3-0-32-1
AU Rashid c †Samson b Pandya 10 (12m 11b 1x4 0x6) SR: 90.9
What is an issue for me is that India are racing to bowl their overs despite bowling just three overs of pace before this one
Abhisek daga: "In brook, Livingston and Smith, England have too many same dimesional hit and miss kind of batters in England middle order.. They need to fit in Joe root somewhere there who can play sensibly and attack at the same time.. " The pattern of wickets are not problematic, imo. They were unlucky to find the fielder on the boundary perfectly, so not a problem with the approach
India are tight on the over-rate, Hardik back on
Meanwhile, world champion D Gukesh looked down and out at the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament, but he dug deep into that champion will to pull off a big escape and stay in touch with the leaders.
END OF OVER:18 | 9 Runs | ENG: 153/8 | RR: 8.50
- Jofra Archer7 (4b)
- Adil Rashid8 (7b)
- Arshdeep Singh3-0-32-1
- Ravi Bishnoi4-0-27-0
Arshdeep is here
Namooh Shah tells me this is just the fourth time when four or more spinners have taken a wicket for India in a men's T20I
END OF OVER:17 | 8 Runs 1 Wkt | ENG: 144/8 | RR: 8.47
- Jofra Archer2 (2b)
- Adil Rashid5 (3b)
- Ravi Bishnoi4-0-27-0
- Varun Chakravarthy4-0-38-2
