Mixing
England vs India T20 result: Alex Hales blasts Eoin Morgan’s men to victory in Cardiff to level series
6th July 2018,
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ALEX HALES hit a massive six from the first ball of the final over as England levelled the Twenty20 series with India.
The Notts batsman hoisted Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the ground and made certain that England won by five wickets.
It followed an earlier and equally big strike by Hales off Kuldeep Yadav as England overcame their wobbles against the mystery spinner. The ball sailed so far and high that it almost landed in the nearby River Taff.
Jonny Bairstow also swept Kuldeep for a huge six over square leg and into the main stand. He repeated the dose next ball with another monster maximum over mid-wicket.
England won despite suffering a batting wobble in the second Twenty20 match in Cardiff.
Set a modest 149 to win, England lost Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Joe Root and slumped to 44-3.
Hales and captain Eoin Morgan put on 48 for the fourth wicket but then Morgan was brilliantly caught at fine leg by a leaping Shikhar Dhawan.
Hales struggled so badly against Kuldeep that he scored just eight runs from 18 balls before being dismissed in India’s victory in the first T20 match at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Kuldeep mesmerised all the England batsmen and ended up with five wickets in just four overs. The trouble for England is that left-arm wrist-spinners are a rarity in cricket.
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They were looked to be more positive this time and Kuldeep finished with 0-34 in four overs this time.
But, just when England looked to be cruising, Bairstow pulled a catch to fine leg. Hales reached his half-century and David Willey hit the winning runs.
Roy whacked 14 runs from Umesh Yadav’s opening over but was then bowling in the top-knotted Indian pacer’s next offering.
Buttler was dropped at mid-off by Virat Kohli, of all people, but then gave Kohli another virtual carbon copy chance three balls later. This time, India’s captain joyously clung on.
When Root missed a sweep against spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s googly and was bowled, England were in big trouble chasing their modest target.
They didn’t have Moeen Ali, either, because he’d been dropped because England were worried his spin bowling might be expensive because of the short straight boundaries.
Hales took advantage of that short boundary by almost deposited his six into the river.
After Morgan won the toss, England made early inroads. Rohit Sharma skied an attempted pull against Jake Ball, Shikhar
Dhawan was run out when he dropped his bat and K.L.Rahul, who made a century at Old Trafford on Tuesday, missed an attempted slog.
When Suresh Raina was stumped off Adil Rashid, India were 79-4 in the 13th over.
The pitch was offering decent carry – which suited England’s seamers – and India were being forced to rebuild.
It meant that even Virat Kohli was watchful, taking 38 balls to score 47, and the tourists’ acceleration happened only in the final over during which Ball conceded 22 runs, mainly to M.S.Dhoni.
ALEX HALES hit a massive six from the first ball of the final over as England levelled the Twenty20 series with India.
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