Moeen and Morgan take India apart
Eoin Morgan led from the front with 51 from just 38 balls as England comfortably chased a below par 148 as India failed to set an adequate total in the first T20. Whilst there were one or two hairy moments in the chase, as Roy and Billings both fell early having launched England to 43-2 off four overs. But it was a clever tactic from Morgan to let his two big-hitting openers do what they do best, and create a platform for his more controlled middle order, in this case himself and Joe Root.
So only needing 105 from 16 overs, just over a run a ball, England could afford to knock the ball around for several overs, confident that if Root and Morgan didn't throw away their wickets, they would be well on top in the back ten. And reaching the halfway mark at 75-2, with wickets in hand and power hitters Stokes and Buttler to come, it was England's game to lose. At which point Morgan let himself off the leash, plundering ten runs an over and hitting four huge sixes to take England to 126 before he got out playing one shot too many, leaving Root and Stokes to chase twenty two off twenty-eight. A rather pedestrian finish, as Root accelerated, moving to 46* as England won with 11 balls to spare, despite a scare for England's best batsman, as he was bowled off a marginal front foot no ball, and then the resulting free hit that followed.
But, as well as England's excellent batting line up managed the chase, truthfully the target that India set them was at least twenty or thirty runs below par and never looked enough. India's scoring was constantly hampered by wickets, as Kohli got off to a good start, but fell for just 29, and although Suresh Raina hit big, he too fell short, with just 34 off 23. India needed one or two batsmen to take this innings by the scruff of the neck, but nobody did and although Dhoni survived as wickets fell around him, he wasn't able to accelerate beyond a run a ball until it was too late, scoring 36 off 27.
For that England's bowlers all deserve credit, as each of them took at least one wicket, and all of them kept decent economies, three of their five under 7 r/o and nobody conceding over 40 runs. The pick of the bowlers was clearly Moeen Ali, whose 2-21 off his four overs was critical in pegging back India at critical periods of the innings, and it was he who removed danger man Kohli. But despite Ali's success, Morgan held back Adil Rashid, who ended up not bowling at all as the seamers did their job. Although Stokes and Plunkett were hit for a few more runs, 1-37 and 1-32 respectively, they both removed key India men, as Stokes got Raina with a clever leg side yorker and Plunkett removed Yuvraj with a clever short ball.
For England's bowlers to turn in such an impressive performance on Indian soil is very surprising, especially given how good India were with the bat in the ODI series, but then Morgan will feel that his side are certainly due a win, and a thumping one at that. 150 is no longer considered a big total or even a defendable one in T20 cricket but there's no denying that lesser batting orders than England's would have struggled to chase it down. Instead, Morgan and Root built on the positive start that Billings and Roy gave them to make a potentially sticky chase very very comfortable.
England will be hoping that this win gives them the momentum to seize the series and continue what's been a very good few years for their short form cricket.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Federer v Nadal. It. Is. On.
- Man United v Southampton in the League Cup final.
- Manor's F1 team is gone. Crying shame.
- Van Aanholt to Palace all but done.
- FA Cup this weekend. Might predict some upsets tomorrow.
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