England will look to bounce back from a bruising defeat at the hands of the touring Indians when they two sides meet again on Friday in Cardiff.
England ran into a red-hot India outfit at Old Trafford and were handed a chastening defeat after brilliant performances from Kuldeep Yadav and Lokesh Rahul who bagged five wickets and a hundred respectively.
One of the few comforts for England going forward was the continued excellent form of Jos Buttler who struck another fifty at the top of the innings before India’s left-arm wrist-spinning wizard put the middle order under his spell.
England v India | Friday, 06 July | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | 18:30
To Win Match
England 91/100
Tie 35/1
India 91/100
England
Having met with little resistance throughout the series against Australia it will be back to the drawing board for Eoin Morgan’s men as they try to plot the downfall of a classy India outfit at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.
England’s middle-order will need to rise to the task of dealing with Kuldeep after five of the top seven batsmen failed to get past double figures in a stunning collapse in the first match of the series.
From a bowling point of view, England did not have enough runs on the board in the first T20I as they posted just 159. They will be eager to find ways to get among the top order of their opponents who have an imposing list of batsmen in their squad.
One thing the hosts will most certainly want to do is hold onto their catches after Jason Roy put down Rahul early on before the batsman stung England with his second T20I hundred in Manchester.
The Indian top order appeared to have very clear plans as to how to deal with each and every England bowler giving their hosts plenty of food for thought in the lead up to Friday’s encounter.
It is unclear if Ben Stokes is approaching full fitness yet but if England are to make changes it is likely that it will be among the bowlers or all-rounders in the squad.
England find themselves under pressure in every department after one match of the series and will no doubt be eager to wrest control away from India who levelled up the all-time T20 record between the two sides at six wins each with their triumph at Old Trafford
India
Virat Kohli said that India’s wrist-spinners would have the ability to pick up England wickets in the middle overs, which they did at Old Trafford, and he said that his side would have the ability with bat in hand to go as hard if not harder than the English, which they also did in Manchester.
The tourists have set out their stall to experiment with different line-ups throughout the white ball phase of the bilateral tour to England so expect one or two changes despite an emphatic display from the tourists in the opener.
All-rounder Krunal Pandya and seamer Deepak Chahar were late additions to the group and could earn T20I debuts in this series at some point.
India did not need to use the likes of Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya in Manchester as the top four fired on all cylinders with the batting order rotated from the arrangement they used in the second T20I against Ireland as part of the team’s commitment to experimentation.
The tourists could stay ahead of England tactically by tweaking their line-up for what is expected to be a slightly slower surface in Wales.
The only men in the India lineup who really have anything to worry about are bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal who took some tap from Jason Roy and Jos Buttler up front.
Verdict: India 91/100
England need to find a way to solve the Kuldeep problem, something few teams have been able to do in the format. If they cannot India’s potent batting lineup will almost certainly have too much in the tank for Morgan’s troops.
Written by James Richardson for Hollywoodbets.
