Cricket
India vs England 2nd T20I Report: India wins as Ishan Kishan shines on his dream debut
Ishan Kishan scored a glorious half-century to help India get back in the series against England
Ishan Kishan became only the second Indian to score a fifty on T20I debut after Ajinkya Rahane. (Source: BCCI)
Ishan Kishan's international debut was a long time coming. When it did arrive, it showed exactly why there's so much talk going around about this youngster. Seizing the occasion with aplomb, Ishan Kishan became only the second Indian after Ajinkya Rahane to score a fifty on his T20I debut.
Having won the toss, India invited England to bat first on the pitch. The hosts got an early breakthrough as Joss Buttler departed on the third ball for a golden duck. While Dawid Malan and Jason Roy kept the runs flowing for a while, the former was left undone by a deceiving delivery from Chahal. Much like the first T20, Jason Roy continued to be the aggressor but was once again denied his half-century by a Washington Sundar bowling change.
England, once accelerating at a steady pace soon found themselves starved of runs in the last five overs and though the likes of Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, and Stokes played some shots, they couldn't get enough runs on the board and had to settle for 164.
With the onus being on the home side to complete a straightforward chase, Sam Curran tested a few nerves as he got rid of KL Rahul in the first over with India having no runs on the board. From then on, Virat Kohli and especially Ishan Kishan took over the reins of the match and thwarted England's plans. Ishan Kishan looked glorious on his debut, batting with ease at the highest level in cricket.
He took on whatever Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan and Tom Curran threw his way and smacked boundaries for fun. England had a chance to come back into the match but Ben Stokes dropped Ishan Kishan when he was batting on 40. The debutant made sure to pay him for the mistake and got to his half-century in some style by hitting consecutive sixes off Adil Rashid.
Crossing the 50-run mark, the young batsman dared to be too adventurous and was given out while trying to reverse hit Adil Rashid. As Kishan departed to a standing applause from the crowd and his own team members, Pant arrived and picked things up right where they were left off. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was more than happy to let the young guns take the spotlight and showed plenty of enthusiasm during their innings. By the time Rishabh departed for a 13-ball 26, the fate of the game had been sealed. Shreyas Iyer and Virat were left with the task of completing the formalities and seeing India past the finishing line.
Virat Kohli ended his poor run of form and brought up yet another unbeaten half-century. He also crossed the landmark of 3000 T20I runs and became the first batsman to achieve this feat. With India back into the series at 1-1, it will be interesting to see how the third match unfolds in a couple of days in Ahmedabad.
