Shreyas Iyer's India still searching for 1st win as Bethell helps England go 1-0 up

England beat India by four wickets in the 2nd T20I on Saturday, July 4, at Old Trafford, Manchester, to take a 1-0 lead in the series. After opting to bat first, India posted a good score of 190/7 in their allotted 20 overs with crucial contributions from Ishan Kishan (49 off 40), Abhishek Sharma (43 off 24) and Shreyas Iyer (37 off 22).

For England, Sam Curran was the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul, while Will Jacks (1/22), Liam Dawson (1/27) and Jofra Archer (1/40) scalped one wicket each.

In reply, England chased down the target in 19 overs with Jacob Bethell leading the run chase with a magnificent innings, while Tom Banton (39 off 32) and Harry Brook (39 off 15) also made valuable contributions. For India, Arshdeep Singh (3/40) emerged as the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul.

Meanwhile, India suffered their third successive loss in completed matches under the new captain Shreyas Iyer and will be desperate to make a comeback with a win in the third T20I on July 7 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Jacob Bethell was adjudged Player of the Match for his stunning innings of 76* (46), laced with five fours and as many sixes. After Arshdeep Singh reduced England to 1/2 in the first over itself, Bethell stitched crucial partnerships with Harry Brook of 50 runs (23 balls), Tom Banton of 67 runs (50 balls) and with Sam Curran of 46 runs (14 balls) to keep England afloat in the run chase.

Turning Point

There were many turning points in the match, as first, India failed to finish their innings on a high. They were 130/3 after 13 overs but could only score 60 runs in their last seven overs.

Later in the second innings, England needed 49 runs to win off the last four overs. However, Jacob Bethell completely turned the complexion of the game by taking 29 runs off Ravi Bishnoi in the 17th over to bring the equation well under control.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Harry Brook (England): 

Extremely pleased, yeah. I thought the lads fielded around in the field were outstanding. And it's one of the things that we spoke about, trying to get off the rope and stop the twos. And there were some decent stats there. I think we had 11 twos and they had five. So we were pretty happy with that. We knew that we could chase that with the wind and the dimensions of the ground. The idea was to get off to a really good start in the power play. That didn't quite work in the first couple of overs. But we were happy with where we were after that powerplay. And then the way that Beth played there was phenomenal. He bowled beautifully in that little phase (Curran). Yeah, and again, it was just about using the dimensions and the wind as well as we could. And that little spell that we had with him and Jacksie, I can't remember what over it was, but I think they went for about 10 or 12 runs. And that was vital in the context of the game. I think you've got to try and maximize the powerplay as well as you can, really. And all our batters have so much strength and power, but innovation as well, and we can hit different parts of the ground. And I thought we used that really well. Yeah, he's awesome to have out there (Bethell). He rallies the troops really well when we're out in the field, and gives me a massive hand out there as well. And he's so mature for his age, and he's got a very long career ahead of him.

Losing Captain, Shreyas Iyer (India):

I think we all know where it went away but I don't want to pinpoint a particular player. I was like, okay he's going to come back strong after that (the first no ball). But the 17th over haunted us. But he'll learn. I think it was a phenomenal score on this pitch with variable bounce. First 15 overs we were on top of the game but suddenly - credit to the way Jacob played. They analysed the dimensions of the ground and the wicket early. He was bowling right outside off stump, and that was very well planned (Curran). He's got that unflinching attitude where he's fearless. The way he bats in the nets... something to learn out of him. I wasn't anticipating him to be nervous. Absolutely, I'm always in high spirits and I know that this is the lowest you can go.