England restrict India to 148/5 in 2nd T20I

A disciplined England bowling attack restricted India at a moderate 148/5 in the second T20I of the three-match series at Sophia Gardens here on Friday.

Leaving their previous mistakes behind, the English bowlers came accurate with the line and length as they struck at regular intervals to deny the visitors post a challenging total on batting-friendly wicket.

Earlier put into bat, the visitors started the proceedings on a shaky note as they lost their first three wickets - of Shikhar Dhawan (10), Rohit Sharma (5) and K.L. Rahul (6) - in quick succession.

Rohit was the first to fall as he became the victim of debutant Jakes Ball and was followed by Dhawan, who failed to make his ground, before Liam Plunkett bowled out last match centurion Rahul.

After the inital dismissals, which left India reeling at 22/3 in the first five overs, incoming batsman Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli slowly and steadily took their side past the 50-run mark.

Just when the partnership was getting stronger as India was approaching towards the three-digit mark, Raina (27) failed to read a Adil Rashid delivery and England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler took no time in stumping the southpaw.

With India's scorecard reading 79/4, Kohli was joined by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the duo stiched 32 runs for the fifth wicket, taking India past the 100-run mark.

With the men in blue at 111 runs at the end of 17 overs, Kohli, while trying to raise the scoring rate, fell short of his half-century by three runs. The Indian skipper's mistimed shot was caught brilliantly at fine leg by Joe Root off a David Willey delivery.

Dhoni (unbeaten 32 off 24 deliveries) and Hardik Pandya's (12 not out off 10 balls) valuable contributions in the final moments helped India reach a competitive total.

For England, Willey, Ball, Plunkett and Rashid bagged a wicket each.

Brief Scores: India 148/5 (Virat Kohli 47, MS Dhoni 32 not out; Liam Plunkett 1/17) vs England.

--IANS

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