Thursday, July 5, 2018

India vs England: Virat Kohli & co look to wrap up series with 2nd T20I win


India stand on the cusp of a 6th successive T20I series' win - a run stretching back to their 2-1 win over New Zealand at home in Nov 2017. Catch live updates of India vs England 2nd T20I match here.


India Vs England 2nd T20 : Fresh from a clinical eight-wicket victory over England, India will aim to clinch the series when they lock horns with the hosts in the second Twenty-20 International(T20I) of the three-match series at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Friday. The Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli completely outclassed England in the first game, as Kuldeep Yadav's fifer followed by Lokesh Rahul's unbeaten ton guided Indian to a comfortable victory. Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be expecting another dominant show from his side to set the tone for the long England tour.

The Indian team management is likely to stick to the same playing eleven, and will not try to disturb their winning combination. In the batting department. Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who failed in the first match, would like to rectify his mistakes in the second T20I against England, while in bowling department, pacers would like to display some disciplined bowling after leaking runs in the opening 10 overs of the first T20I.

On the other hand, England will be desperate to bounce back in the threematch series and would once again rely on opener Jos Buttler, who continued his purple patch of form with another half-century in the opening match. In order to put up a fight against the visitors, apart from Buttler, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, and Eoin Morgan will have to quickly learn to read India's wrist spinners. While England spinner Adil Rashid did a fair job in the first outing, Moeen Ali was expensive and will have to be economical against the spin-friendly Indian batsmen. The English camp will also miss the services of pacer Tom Curran, who has been ruled out of the remaining T20Is and the ODI series owing to a left side strain.

How a series win will affect India and England ICC T20I ranking?
In terms of ICC Rankings, a 2-0 series lead will allow India to close the gap with second-placed Australia, while a whitewash will catapult them to second position, behind top-ranked Pakistan. Australia will have to win both their next two games in the ongoing tri-series in Zimbabwe to stay above India.

A loss on Friday will see England drop down to rank seven below New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies, respectively.


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