9.22pm As Alex Hales said - it's all to play for in Bristol with the series tied 1-1. Hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of the second T20I. Hope to see you all soon for the series finale. Till then, on behalf of everyone here, this is Sreshth Shah, signing off.
9.16pm Kohli, the losing captain "Always difficult to come back after losing three early wickets. England hit the right areas and made us play bad shots. Would've liked 10-15 runs more. We thought 149 would be competitive, especially since they had to win. But they eventually did win. They played Kuldeep really well today, and that was the difference in the middle overs this time. They did their homework and played Kuldeep really well. Need to get back day after. The format is cruel: Umesh was outstanding, but the final-ball boundary changed things. Those little things count. Gotta brush it aside, had a good game, but England were better than us."
Morgan, the winning captain: "We showed character. There was a bit more bounce today. When it bounces you can take wickets, and that's what we did. Willey did well, and the unit as a whole did really well. We were happy with that total. To get 150 was a cagey affair, but was happy to go over the line. The way Alex played today, he adapted to conditions really well, and did small partnerships that helped us chase this down. We normally play spin quite well, but it's a matter of being logical while playing."
Alex Hales is the Man of the Match. Here's what he said: "A much needed win. Important game, and nice to take the team through to the win. Had to look at a big more footage for the spinners, and this time I played more on the backfoot. The other day was just a bad day at the office. Any position for me in the team is fine with me. All the guys below me can also hit boundaries, so we were rather confident. Bowling effort was outstanding. Two very strong teams so all to play for in Bristol."
9.07pm Virat Kohli congratulates Alex Hales as the teams shake hands. The series is still alive, and it's all thanks to Alex Hales' composed half-century. Take nothing away from David Willey and Liam Plunkett though. Their eight overs went for only 35 runs, and strangled India early during the Powerplay overs. That India even had a respectable score was courtesy MS Dhoni's late blitz. England, thought, were struggling early, but Morgan and Bairstow ensured they were able companions to Hales as England romped home with two balls to spare. Goes without saying that we apologise for the temporary outage. Stick around for the presentation.
Gops: "England will be a happy team today. 1. Merlyn has paid off. 2. They get keep their 5-0 record at Cardiff.!!"
Dude: "I guess England has found a winning formula. Win toss and put India to bat first. Spinners should finish their stint before 15th over to have an impact. We live and learn."
END OF OVER:19 | 8 Runs | ENG: 137/5 (12 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.21, RRR: 12.00)
- Alex Hales47 (38b)
- David Willey2 (5b)
- Umesh Yadav4-0-36-2
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar3-0-7-1
Umesh to bowl the 19th over. England need 20 off 12 balls.
END OF OVER:18 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | ENG: 129/5 (20 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 7.16, RRR: 10.00)
- David Willey1 (3b)
- Alex Hales40 (34b)
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar3-0-7-1
- Kuldeep Yadav4-0-34-0
Pranshu Mittal : "England scored the same amount of runs in 17 overs as india did in 19 overs. Let's see now if England can emaluate the masterclass of Dhoni in triple amount of time. "
Ajay: "seems like both of my favorite teams are loosing today, one has opportunity to come back but other will take 4 more years to come back. :("
Willey walks in.
JM Bairstow c Kuldeep Yadav b Kumar 28 (18b 0x4 2x6) SR: 155.55
Gokul G: "The equation is less threatening for England. They should win this easy from here!." -- Here's Bhuvneshwar.
END OF OVER:17 | 16 Runs | ENG: 126/4 (23 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.41, RRR: 7.66)
- Jonny Bairstow28 (17b)
- Alex Hales39 (32b)
- Kuldeep Yadav4-0-34-0
- Hardik Pandya4-0-28-1