Manchester, Sep 1: England extended their dominance over India with a six-wicket victory in the only T20 international to be played between the two sides here at Old Trafford, Manchester. Jade Derbach took four for 22 while Eoin Morgan scored a 27-ball 49 as England maintained their unbeaten run over the visitors this English summer.
Earlier, MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first. India were able to shrug off the disappointment of losing Parthiv Patel (10) early as Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid dispatched the bowlers to all corners of the ground. Rahane, the younger of the two debutants, was particularly impressive, regularly employing the pull short to punish anything that was on the shorter side. Dravid, after a slowish start, matched Rahane’s aggression as he bludgeoned three consecutive sixes off Samit Patel on the leg side in the eleventh over.
India’s fortunes went decisively downhill after the Rahane-Dravid stand was broken. Dravid (31 off 21) tried to force a Ravi Bopara delivery through the covers but only ended up offering a straightforward catch to Eoin Morgan. Rahane (61), Virat Kohli (4), Rohit Sharma (1) departed in the space of ten deliveries to squander India’s strong foundation. From 101 for one at the end of 11 overs, India had slumped to 117 for five at the end of 14.
Suresh Raina’s 19-ball 33 then took India to a competitive total of 165; the visitors were bowled out in 19.4 overs.
In reply, England lost Alex Hales, playing his first T20 game for England, off just the second ball of their innings. But a 58-run stand between Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter set the hosts firmly on the path to recovery.
Two wickets in the space of seven deliveries sent both Kieswetter (18 off 13) and Pietersen (33 off 23) back to the dug-out and brought India right back into the game. However, Morgans’s 27-ball 49 proved crucial with the hosts needing only 32 runs off the last 29 balls at the fall of his wicket.
Munaf Patel bowled a miserly 19th over that cost India just three runs. With England needing 10 runs off the last over, Samit Patel stepped up and delivered for the hosts. Patel hit R Vinay Kumar for a couple of fours through third man with a lofted drive over extra cover sealing the contest with three balls remaining.
Brief scores: India 165 all out in 19.4 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 61, SK Raina 33, Jade Dernbach 4/22) lost to England 169 for four in 19.3 overs (Eoin Morgan 49, Kevin Pietersen 33, Munaf Patel 2-25) by six wickets
Man-of-the-match: Jade Dernbach for his incisive spell of 3.4-0-22-4 that restricted India to 165
