CARDIFF – Alex Hales kept his nerve with 58 not out to see England home andsquare the international T20 series against India 1-1 with one to play inCardiff on Friday.
Set 149 to win off their 20 overs England needed 12 off the final over andHales put Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the Cardiff ground off the first balland the second for four.
A single followed and David Willey hit Kumar for the winning runs to set upthe decider on Monday.
Hales made his runs from 41 balls with four fours and three sixes to gethis side over the line when they were faltering.
England s big hitters at the top of the order Jos Buttler and Jason Roywere both out cheaply trying to get the early run rate up to Umesh Kumar.
Roy made 15 and Buttler just 14 before they were both dismissed by UmeshYadav but Hales kept England in the game.
He had struggled against the Indian spinners in the opening game inManchester but played with more confidence here and Kuldeep Yadav who tookfive for 24 in the first game went wicketless.
Jonny Bairstow launched him into the stands twice in his final over but theEngland man fell short when he holed out to Yadav off Kumar. When Bairstowdeparted the hosts were still 23 short of their target with three oversleft.
Liam Plunkett and David Willey had put the squeeze on India as the touristswere restricted to 148-5.
Plunkett took 1-17 and Willey 1-18 as India were kept on a leash despite 47from captain Virat Kohli and some late hitting from MS Dhoni who scored 32not out and helped plunder 22 in Jake Ball s final over
England put Indiain, and Plunkett responded with the most economical fourover figures by an England bowler in a home T20 international.
And Willey leaked just one run more in his stint and picked up Kohli swicket, caught in the deep by Joe Root, when the Indian captain wasthreatening to cut loose.
Ball, the Nottinghamshire pace bowler, was handed a T20 international debutand made the most of his chance by taking a wicket in his first over buthis figures suffered at the hands of Dhoni.
Ball tempted opener Rohit Sharma into pull shot which he top edged leavingkeeper Jos Buttler to take an easy skied chance.
Shikhar Darwan was run out when he dropped his bat and failed to get hisfoot over the crease and Plunkett bowled K.L.Rahul to leave the touristsreeling at 22-3 before Kohli set about rebuilding the innings.
Darwan was dismissed by Jason Roy s throw and quick-thinking by Englandcaptain Eoin Morgan who referred the decision to the TV umpire and wasproved correct.
Ball, who has 18 caps in 50 over internationals, replaced Moeen Ali in theEngland line-up with England leaving the spinner out because of therelatively short straight boundaries.
The series concludes with the third T20 game in Bristol on Sunday beforethree 50-over internationals and a five-match Test series. – APP/AFP