2nd T20I: Virat Kohli, debutant Ishan Kishan help India gun down 165 vs England to level series

Team India bounced back in style on Sunday as they beat England by 7 wickets in the second T20 international to level the 5-match series 1-1 in Ahmedabad.

Chasing 165 for victory, India rode on superb knocks from captain Virat Kohli and debutant Ishan Kishan to gun down the target in 17.5 overs.

Kohli top-scored with 73 not out from 49 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes while Kishan repaid the faith of the selector and team management by making an impact in his first International match, scoring 56 off just 32 balls with 5 fours and 4 towering sixes.

Kishan emulated Ajinkya Rahane’s feat by becoming only the second Indian to score a fifty on debut in the shortest format. Rahane had scored 61 on his T20I debut against England in Manchester in 2011 with followed by Kishan’s score.

Earlier, India bowlers came up with a spirited performance towards the end of the England innings to restrict the  visitors to 164 for six in 20 overs after Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl first.

England were coasting along well at 129 for four in 15 overs and looked good for putting up a huge total. However, tight bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya allowed England to get only 35 runs in the last five overs.

India began well getting rid of Jos Buttler early, in the very first over, but a 63-run second-wicket partnership between Jason Roy (46 off 35 balls) and Dawid Malan (24 off 23 balls) helped the visitors get back on track.

Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur both grabbed a couple of wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked his first international wicket in more than 15 months to keep England to a par-score.

The win also saw India equal the head-to-head record against England to 8-8 in T20Is. The third match will be played at the same venue on March 16.

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