Journalism of Courage
Just before flying home,England have recorded their first win of the tour. After the 5-0 ODI whitewash,the world champions in the games shortest format finally got their act together on Saturday as they chased down Indias score of 120,in the one-off T20 match at Eden Gardens,by losing just 4 wickets and with 8 balls to spare.
Fast bowler Steve Finn,who has been the most impressive bowler in this series,along with Kevin Pietersen,playing with a chipped thumb,ensured that the team at least had one happy ending story to narrate when they reach home.
Jadejas dream spell
The target set for England was modest,but the tricky wicket made it difficult. And with England 40/2 after seven overs and the Indian spinners getting the ball to talk,it once again seem that MS Dhonis men might just escape with a win. The pick of the bowler was left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja,whose spell of 4-1-9-1 was the best for an Indian in international T20. But Pietersen was judicious in choosing when to attack. While he played Jadeja cautiously but against others he played his strokes.
Changing gears
He changed gears in the 7th over that was bowled by Yusuf Pathan. The England middle-order batsman started with a Dilscoop over Dhonis head and followed it up a audacious switch hit six a ball later. This was followed more correct shots as the Indian bowlers struggled to grip with ball because of the dew on the field.
Samit Patel,coming at No. 4,played a perfect second fiddle to Pietersen and their 60-run stand off 46 balls shut out the hosts.
Earlier,Finn and Tim Bresnan stuck to a perfect line and length that saw India losing both their openers – Ajinkya Rahane for nought and comeback man Robin Uthappa for one – with just five runs on the board. After Virat Kohli became Bresnans second wicket,it was up to Raina to set up the innings. The southpaw was stroking the balls freely till he slashed a widish delivery from Finn straight to backward point where Jonny Bairstow took the catch.
Manoj Tiway wasted a good start as he was out trying to slog over the mid-wicket. Ravindra Jadeja soon followed as he was out for a first ball duck. At this stage,India were struggling at 74/6. A few lusty hits by Dhoni and R Ashwin saw India finish at 120.
Brief scores: India 120/9 in 20 overs (S Raina 39,MS Dhoni 21; S Finn 3/22,T Bresnan 2/19,R Bopara 2/16) lost to England 121/4 in 18.4 overs ( K Pietersen 53; R Jadeja 1/9) by six wickets
