England’s winning ways continued thanks to Eoin Morgan

England’s winning ways continued against India on a nippy Wednesday night here at Old Trafford. In a NatWest Twenty20 match that careened to the last over with England needing 10 runs, Samit Patel struck two fours against Vinay Kumar to guide the host to a six-wicket victory.

Chasing India’s 165 in 19.4 overs, England scored 169 for four in 19.3 overs. The pursuit initially hinged on Kevin Pietersen’s bluster while Praveen Kumar trapped debutant Alex Hales for a blob in the first over. Craig Kieswetter stayed busy but it was Pietersen, who rattled the bowlers. A dropped catch by a scrambling Parthiv Patel helped Pietersen to stay afloat and he also did not allow R. Ashwin to settle down, finding his spots on the leg-side.

India sniffed a chance when Munaf Patel, prone to the angry aside against batsmen, snapped up Kieswetter. In the next over, Virat Kohli drew Pietersen out for M.S. Dhoni to do the rest and at 61 for three, England needed a partnership, which chimed in through Eoin Morgan (49) and Ravi Bopara. The duo added 73 runs for the fourth-wicket with Morgan shifting gears against Rohit Sharma, clubbing two fours and a six.

Morgan reverse swept Ashwin, caned Praveen before a square-drive against Munaf turned fatal. Bopara and Samit Patel then anchored the final stretch. Amidst the gloom, the Indians found some comic relief when Samit’s bat broke while trying to carve Munaf, who bowled a tight penultimate over, conceding just three runs.

It all boiled down to the last over but Vinay bowled a wide, the next delivery turned out to be four byes and then Samit scooped a four beating third-man and pummelled one over covers to seal the match.

Earlier the Indian innings was a contrasting blend of a debutant’s moment under the lights and an inexplicable batting collapse with Man of the Match Jade Dernbach grabbing four wickets. After Dhoni opted to bat, the start was brisk as India’s openers Parthiv and Ajinkya Rahane remained positive. Parthiv chanced his arms often and finally succumbed to Dernbach.

The evening however belonged to Rahane (61, 39b, 8x4), who displayed no nerves of a debutant. His first run might have been an ungainly single off Tim Bresnan but after that Rahane played a bouquet of shots that spelt ease and that extra second.

Rahane pulled Stuart Broad and when the England skipper over-compensated in length, the flick was unleashed. Graeme Swann was greeted with dancing feet and a free bat-swing and the debutant’s vigour rubbed onto another player making his first step in an international Twenty20 match. Rahul Dravid proved equal to the task and in a second-wicket partnership of 65 runs, the veteran pounded three consecutive sixes off Samit Patel.

Inexplicably India suffered a mini-collapse as four wickets fell in a span of 15 balls. Dravid failed to drill one past the in-field against Bopara and Broad prised out Rahane and Kohli. The tumble got worse when Rohit Sharma was left stranded by Swann and India lost half its men for 117 in 14 overs.

Further alarms were paused when Suresh Raina struck Broad and Bresnan over the mid-wicket ropes. The southpaw also stole a four off his nemesis – Swann. At the other end, Dhoni remained circumspect and soon another collapse tripped the Indians with the last five wickets falling for eight runs and it did have a bearing on the result.

The scores. India: Parthiv Patel c Broad b Dernbach 10 (12b, 2x4), A. Rahane c Dernbach b Broad 61 (39b, 8x4), R. Dravid c Morgan b Bopara 31 (21b, 3x6), V. Kohli c Kieswetter b Broad 4 (5b), R. Sharma st Kieswetter b Swann 1 (3b), S. Raina c Broad b Bresnan 33 (19b, 2x4, 3x6), M.S. Dhoni c Hales b Dernbach 8 (8b, 1x4), R. Ashwin (run out) 4 (2b, 1x4), Praveen Kumar b Dernbach 1 (4b), Vinay Kumar (not out) 2 (4b), Munaf c Kieswetter b Dernbach 0 (1b). Extras (lb-7, w-3): 10. Total (all out in 19.4 overs): 165.

Power Play (Overs 1 – 6): 49/1.

Fall of wickets: 1-39 (Parthiv), 2-104 (Dravid), 3-106 (Rahane), 4-108 (Kohli), 5-117 (Sharma), 6-158 (Dhoni), 7-162 (Ashwin), 8-162 (Raina), 9-165 (Praveen).

England bowling: Bresnan 4-0-33-1, Dernbach 3.4-0-22-4, Broad 4-0-37-2, Samit Patel 3-0-34-0, Swann 4-0-28-1, Bopara 1-0-4-1.

England: A. Hales lbw b Praveen 0 (2b), C. Kieswetter c Raina b Munaf 18 (13b, 2x4), K. Pietersen st Dhoni b Kohli 33 (23b, 5x4), E. Morgan c Sharma b Munaf 49 (27b, 7x4, 1x6), R. Bopara (not out) 31 (36b, 2x4) , Samit Patel (not out) 25 (16b, 3x4). Extras (lb-7, w-6): 13. Total (for four wkts., in 19.3 overs): 169.

Power Play (Overs 1 - 6): 58/1.

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Hales), 2-58 (Kieswetter), 3-61 (Pietersen), 4-134 (Morgan).

India bowling: Praveen 4-0-27-1, Vinay 3.3-0-35-0, Munaf 4-0-25-2, Ashwin 4-0-37-0, Kohli 3-0-22-1, Sharma 1-0-16-0.