Key events
The story of the game looked like being India’s wonder boy. But it turned out to be England’s golden boy. It was lovely to get a glimpse of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, India’s youngest-ever cricketer at 15, and he put down a marker with two effortless sixes. But he fell for 14 and the matchwinner turned out to be Jacob Bethell, with much the biggest innings of the day – 76 off 46 balls with five sixes. That’s what comes from being a relative veteran of 22.
ENGLAND WIN WITH AN OVER TO SPARE!
19th over: England 191-6 (Bethell 76, Archer 10) Jofra faces Arshdeep – the two best fast bowlers in this game, though only Arshdeep has much to show for it. Archer pulls for four, pushes for two, glides for one. Bethell, looking for a four to finish things off, plays a pull that goes for only a single. And Jofra clips for two to complete an outstanding run chase.
18th over: England 181-6 (Bethell 75, Archer 1) Out comes Jofra with England in a position to get ’em in singles, not that that is his style. He does manage one off the inside edge, and England need ten off the last 12 balls.
Bethell, who had batted so well with the right-handed Brook and Banton, did even better with the left-handed Curran, adding 46 off only 14 balls.
Wicket! Curran c Sooryavanshi b Harshit 7 (England 179-6)
Curran, trying to add yet another six, clips to deep square, where the catch is taken with no fuss by Sooryavanshi – remember him?
17.2 overs: England 179-5 (Bethell 74, Curran 7) Shreyas, possibly at a loss after that, turns to Harshit Rana, who has offered little threat. Bethell is so pleased to see him, he plays a nonchalant ramp for six. But then…
Bethell hits 26 off an over!
17th over: England 171-5 (Bethell 68, Curran 6) Bishnoi returns, at the other end, and again starts his spell with a back-foot no-ball. Even he is confused by his fancy footwork. Bethell faces the free hit and lofts it for six! Bishnoi does it again – and so does Bethell!! He goes to fifty off 39 balls, the first fifty of the day, and this is a man who came in to bat at 1-2. What a temperament he has.
Knowing that this is his over, Bethell just keeps on going for it. He goes way back to drive for four, then lofts an on-drive into the crowd for six more. That’s 29 from the over, all but three of them flowing from the bat of Bethell. England need 20 from the last three overs.
16th over: England 142-5 (Bethell 42, Curran 5) Curran cuts his first ball and collects four off a thick edge. He will take over as the aggressor here – or will he? Bethell straight-drives for four, to the delight of five men in the crowd who have all come to the party as Elvis.
England need 49 off the last four overs, ie two a ball and one for luck.
Wicket! Jacks LBW b Chakravarty 9 (England 133-5)
Given! Jacks, trying a reverse sweep, is hit on the foot on the full, which surely makes the ball hard to track. He reviews, to no avail, despite that nuance. The HawkEye sound effect is unchanged – a clonk that suggests the ball hit the pitch, when it didn’t.
15th over: England 132-4 (Bethell 37, Jacks 9) Back to spin at both ends as Axar returns. Jacks starts the over well with a cut for four, but then Axar bounces back, allowing only four singles. He finishes with 40-0-20-1 and England need 59 off the last five overs.
“Chapeau!” says Brian Withington, generously. “Very good job I was not mid hot coffee slurp when I read your assessment of how flamboyant the Bishnoi run-up is [6th over]. However, on mature reflection I’m not sure it’s quite contrived enough to really make the metaphor sing?” Ouch!
14th over: England 124-4 (Bethell 35, Jacks 3) Shreyas replaces Binoi with Chakravarty, one leggie with another. He keeps the pressure on by conceding only ones and twos. Only six off the over, and now England need a firework display.
13th over: England 118-4 (Bethell 32, Jacks 0) Brook sends Will Jacks out ahead of Sam Curran, perhaps in order to preserve the left-and-right combo that has served England well. Bethell added 50 with Brook and 67 with Banton. And now he has to add 73, with Jacks et al, from the last seven overs.
WICKET! Banton c Tilak b Arshdeep 39 (England 118-4)
Banton chips a drive to deep point! That was sheer frustration after Arshdeep began this spell with two dots to Banton. And India, surely, are the hot favourites now.
12.5 overs: England 118-3 (Bethell 32, Banton 39) Shreyas replaces Harshit with Arshdeep, the only new-ball bowler to make a splash today. He’s right on the money again, keeping both batters quiet. Suddenly england are feeding off scraps – a single, a wide, a leg-bye and …
12th over: England 115-3 (Bethell 32, Banton 38) Inexperience, what inexperience? Bethell is anchoring the innings while Banton continues with his Brook impersonation. Facing Binoi, he hits a lovely pair of back-to-back fours – a cultured slog and a cover drive. The partnership has raced to 64 off only 44 balls. And still they have to step up the pace: England need 76 from 48.
11th over: England 103-3 (Bethell 31, Banton 28) Right on cue, here is a seamer: Harshit Rana, who had just the one over with the new ball. Bethell takes two leg-byes, then Banton plays a stroke that could be Brook – wristy, middled and lofted over midwicket for four. Bethell gets a short ball and helps it round the corner for four more to bring up the hundred.
England need 88 from the last nine overs, so the rate required is back in single figures.
Drinks: India still in the driving seat
10th over: England 91-3 (Bethell 26, Banton 23) After firing blanks against Axar, these young batters simply have to take down Chakravarty. They make a good fist of it as Bethell lofts the first ball for six and Banton wafts the third for four. That’s 13 off the over, and Bethell has done well to steer England back from the precipice of 1-2. But England still need ten an over and it’s hard to see the Indians, with all their IPL experience, blowing this one. Much will hinge on whether England can attack the seamers – if Shreyas ever brings them back.
9th over: England 78-3 (Bethell 18, Banton 18) Shreyas gets it right again, keeping Axar on for a third over and seeing him concede only two singles. Too good. England were up with the rate one over ago: not any more – they’ve been going along at 8.66 an over, now they need 10.27.
8th over: England 76-3 (Bethell 17, Banton 17) Shreyas turns to his third spinner, good going in eight overs. It’s Varun Chakravarty, whose fingers may still be stinging from the terrific catch he took to remove Buttler. Banton opts to attack him, using the reverse sweep to pick up a four and a two.
7th over: England 67-3 (Bethell 17, Banton 9) Axar continues, with more protection now that the powerplay is over. The batters settle for a bit of milking: four singles and a clip for two from Bethell.
6th over: England 61-3 (Bethell 13, Banton 7) Bishnoi continues with his distinctive run-up, so flamboyant that it could be a paragraph from Barney Ronay. Tom Banton plays a nice square drive for four, but India end the powerplay well on top. England have lost the three batters most likely to see them home.
“Kevin Pietersen said that he always downed a can of Red Bull before going out to bat,” writes Andy Flintoff. “It seems like Brook has it on an IV drip.”
5th over: England 51-3 (Bethell 11, Banton 1) Well done Ishan Kishan, well done Axar Patel, and well done Shreyas Iyer for being brave enough to bowl two spinners in the powerplay. Brook and Bethell put on 50 off 23 balls, but that’s a price India would happily for Brook’s wicket – which, yet again, came at a discount.
WICKET! Brook c Kishan b Axar 39 (England 51-3)
Brook steps back to leg, then plays a sweep and misses – or has he gloved it behind? The Indians are convinced, and so, after a review, is the third umpire. That could be the killer blow.
4th over: England 49-2 (Brook 38, Bethell 10) Feeling the heat from this counter-attack, Shreyas Iyer turns to spin. Ravi Bishnoi comes on with his florid leg-breaks and starts with a back-foot no-ball. It’s not easy to play second fiddle in a heavy-metal band, but Bethell shows promise by pulling the no-ball for four and following up with a sweep for four more. And the Indians keep Brook quiet by depriving him of the strike.
“I’ve thought for a while,” says Tim Sanders, “that Harry Brook is more solid when batting in a T20 than a Test. He doesn’t feel the need to make extravagant or disruptive gestures, or throw off the shackles of tradition; he just plays to his considerable strengths of watching the ball and hitting it.”
3rd over: England 38-2 (Brook 37, Bethell 1) Jacob Bethell gets off the mark, as Brook did, with a nice calm push for a single. Brook is playing a different game now: facing Arshdeep, he cuts for four, pulls for four, flicks for six, straight-drives for six… and then clips for what – four, six or a catch? Six!! That’s 27 off the over, and Brook has raced to 37 off just 12 balls. Do the Indians not know that you just need to bring the keeper up to the stumps?
“Interesting take on Harry Brook and captaincy,” says Brian Withington, with good timing. “He’s easily caricatured as a gormless dolt by Antipodean critics, but I used to think the same of Ben Stokes.”
2nd over: England 11-2 (Brook 11, Bethell 0) Facing Harshit Rana, Brook soon finds his groove. He plays a lovely flick for four, adding some whip with his wrists, and then gives Harshit the charge to flat-bat for four. He adds a pull for two, before Harshit dig deep and bowls a better lifter that draws a bottom edge.
“I was struck by the some of the names of the India cricketers,” says Colum Fordham, drily. “After losing their first two wickets in four balls, I would suggest that England are somewhere between Arshdeep and Harshit.”
1st over: England 1-2 (Brook 1, Bethell 0) In between those two calamities, Harry Brook got off the mark with a nice calm push to mid-off. After treating a Test like a T20 last weekend, he may have decided to treat a T20 like a Test.
Wicket! Buttler c Chakravarty b Arshdeep 0 (England 1-2)
One brings two! After playing and missing twice outside off, Buttler sees a nice friendly half-volley on his pads and clips it straight to the man at midwicket. England, who always have a collapse up their sleeve, have started early even by their standards.
Wicket! Salt c Kishan b Arshdeep 0 (England 0-1)
Out first ball! Salt tries to cut a ball that’s too close, or on him too fast, and he just nicks it behind.
First it’s going to be Phil Salt to face Arshdeep Singh, in a black patka.
Any mathematicians in the house? We need to know what comes next in this sequence: 26, 21, 3, 3, 7, 2, 0, 25.
Those were Jos Buttler’s scores in the T20 World Cup, and the 20s were so scratchy that they were even worse than the failures. But after that he was close to his carefree best in the IPL, so let’s see which Jos comes out to bat now.
Who says T20 doesn’t bring us ebb and flow? England were on top at first as Archer was too hot to handle, then India as the openers got going, then England as they both fell, then India as Kishan and Iyer added 65, then England as Curran won the late-middle overs, then India as Tilak Varma added a late flourish. The commentators feel that 190 is below par, if anything, but it gives India’s bowlers plenty to play with – and so does the pitch, which is offering a little bit of everything, from pace to turn.
India finish on 190-7
20th over: India 190-7 (Tilak 24) Jofra Archer needed some treatment on his hand after not quite taking that excellent catch, but he’s fit to bowl the last over. He may wish he wasn’t as Tilak Varma goes six, six, four! Archer retorts with a snarling bouncer and a wide yorker – a dot and a one. And so to the last ball… Wicket! Harshit Rana c Buttler b Archer 6
19th over: India 173-6 (Tilak 7, Harshit 6) Josh Tongue has been having a torrid time on debut. This over is much better, mixing chin music with yorkers, but it ends with a full toss that is clumped for six by Harshit Rana. Are India still eyeing 200?
Wicket! Axar Patel run out Buttler 2 (India 165-6)
A happy accident! Buttler takes a glove off and aims for the stumps at the striker’s end, misses … and hits the bowler’s end. Nasser says there’s no telling which end he was aiming at, but Buttler’s wide smile shows that it was a fluke.
18th over: India 162-5 (Tilak 3, Axar 2) So Curran gets his third wicket and makes sure that India have two new batters in at a vital juncture. He nearly grabs a fourth as Tilak swings to deep square, where Archer, sliding in, seems to take a blinder – but it’s scrubbed off by the third umpire, who feels that the ball burst through Jofra’s fingers. That seems fair enough to my untrained eye, and Archer showed that he wasn’t sure himself by making the universal sign for a TV screen.
Still, it’s another fine over from Curran, who talked the talk at the press conference yesterday and has now walked the walk with three for 32 off four overs of fiercely intelligent allsorts. Those are his best figures in a T20 international in England.
Wicket! Ishan Kishan c Dawson b Curran 49 (India 157-5)
Ishan has been the top scorer, but he’s lost his fluency in the past 20 minutes and now he too holes out, to Dawson at extra-cover.
