Plays of the day from the second T20 international between India and England in Nagpur
Alan Gardner29-Jan-2017The rollercoaster
Put in to bat, India looked to Virat Kohli to provide the spark. His first boundary came off a swirling top-edged pull off Tymal Mills, which Sam Billings could not quite get a hand to, running around from third man; he then survived what appeared to be a plumb lbw shout off Chris Jordan, umpire C Shamsuddin deeming it to have been high. Kohli struck back in Mills’ second over, properly connecting with a backfoot drive to send the ball emphatically over long-off, before swatting the next delivery for four to get the crowd going. They were silenced minutes later, however, when Kohli could only spoon a slower ball from Jordan off the toe of the bat and was caught by mid-on running back.The failure to launch
Yuvraj Singh’s innings largely consisted of a struggle against Moeen Ali. The third ball he faced from Moeen could have seen him off without scoring, as Yuvraj got in an awful tangle trying to sweep and ended up falling over, the ball rebounding off pad and body. But Shamsuddin again shook his head. Two overs later, Yuvraj’s attempted sweep created a more clear-cut appeal, Shamsuddin this time immediately raising his finger for lbw. Yuvraj departed for 4 from 12, having managed one scoring shot off seven Moeen deliveries.The failure to dislodge
Ben Stokes had conceded just a single and a leg bye from the first four balls of the 15th over when Manish Pandey decided to try and flay him through the off side. As he stepped away and threw his hands through the shot, there was a loud click before the ball settled in Jos Buttler’s gloves. Stokes then began to appeal before covering his eyes in exasperation. The sound had been caused by the ball clipping the top of off stump, which caused the leg bail to momentarily leave its groove – and light up – before slipping back into place. Pandey was able to grin and Stokes had to bear it.The double-strike
In the first T20, England’s openers raced off before both being dismissed in the fourth over. They did not quite get such a fast start this time but Billings and Jason Roy again fell to the same bowler in the same over. With England 22 for 0, Ashish Nehra began the fourth with a bouncer, having spotted Billings make a move down the pitch, and the top edge was safely held at fine leg; next ball, Roy went back to another short delivery and saw a leading edge balloon to mid-on. India were in the contest and Nehra was on a hat-trick – but Eoin Morgan calmly watched his first ball through outside off.The breaks
Amit Mishra began his second over with a gentle offbreak, which Morgan pushed down the ground for one. Mishra then reverted to legspin, tossing up a ball on off stump that Joe Root managed to paddle wide of short fine leg and away for four – only England’s second boundary in more than five overs. Mishra persisted, pushed his legbreak a little wider, and this time saw Root’s drive send a thick inside edge past leg stump and again beat the chasing fielder for back-to-back boundaries. Sometimes, the breaks just don’t go your way.The breaks II
Mishra’s third over, the 11th of the England innings, again featured offspin first up – and this time it produced a result, as Morgan slogged a sweep straight to deep midwicket. After Root tucked a single, Mishra then went round the wicket to the new batsman, Stokes, and produced a perfect googly to hit the top of off stump. However, a check with the third umpire revealed that while Mishra had got it just right out of the hand, his front foot had crossed the line. Result: no-ball, free hit and a lucky break for Stokes.
