England seek to counter spin and level series

Overview

England v India
Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff
2nd T20I
Friday 6 July, 16:30 GMT, 17:30 local

It was supposed to be a clash of equals, a tussle between two high quality sides. But India, with a clinical eight-wicket win over hosts England in the first Twenty20 International in Manchester, proved themselves far superior.

Virat Kohli’s men barely broke a sweat in the first game of their England tour. The home side were ahead for perhaps the first five overs of the match, when they got to fifty. But after that it was India all the way, looking scarily effective in all aspects.

Even with Yuzvendra Chahal, their wrist spinner, not among the wickets, Kuldeep Yadav, his left-arm spin twin, made up for it with a five-wicket haul.

While Bhuvneshwar Kumar came in for some punishment, the other pacers, Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya, accounted for a commendable 22 dot balls in the England innings.

Then, KL Rahul eased into his role at No.3, his century an example of fearless cricket that was as much about the shot-making as the attitude.

It was the kind of performance that would make the best baulk at the prospect of facing the team.

England, though, are putting it down to the unpredictability of the format and are backing themselves to bounce back. To do that, their formidable line-up of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan will have to quickly learn to read the spinners.

Buttler, who continued his purple patch of form with another fifty in the opening match, said of the Kuldeep challenge, "He's a very good bowler. It's now down to the guys to gain an understanding … It's [about] getting used to the angle.”

The England spinners themselves will feel the pressure to be more effective. While Adil Rashid did a fair job, Moeen Ali was expensive and will hope to be back to his economical ways of earlier in the summer.

Morgan’s men have set new benchmarks all summer. They’ll have to do it again to keep the series alive.

Key players Adil Rashid (England): The England leg-spinner was their most economical bowler in the first match. He finished with 1/25, but after a productive run against Australia before this series, he’ll be hungry for more scalps.

Virat Kohli (India): The India captain batted down the order at No.4 as the line-up was given a new look. He said this role allowed him to control the game more and gave the youngsters a ‘cushion’ to play freely around him. After slow starts in the Ireland matches, he’ll want to join in the run-scoring.

Conditions
Mostly sunny weather is expected in Cardiff, with highs of 25°C. In England’s last match here, they smashed 342 in an ODI against Australia last month. As in Manchester, they can expect considerable crowd support for the ever popular Indian side as well.

SquadsEngland: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

India: Virat Kohli (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav