India vs England: Liam Plunkett, David Willey top second T20I report card; Shikhar Dhawan, Joe Root flop again

England maintained their perfect T20I record in Cardiff by winning the second match against India by five wickets. Driven by some exceptional bowling by their seamers, England silenced India’s gun batsmen and restricted them to 148. It seemed like the Indian wrist-spinners would once again torment the hosts but after a difficult ten over phase, England found their groove and eventually chased the target in the final over. Here we dish out the players’ report card based on their performance. [caption id=“attachment_4686011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] England’s Liam Plunkett celebrates after bowling KL Rahul on Friday. AFP[/caption] Liam Plunkett — 10/10 In a game of 20 overs, four tight overs is worth its weight in gold. Liam Plunkett, whose wicket-taking ability is well known, stuck to bowling back-of-the-length and used his variations to keep the batsmen guessing. He had the dangerous KL Rahul bowled and conceded just 17 runs in his quota of four overs. David Willey — 10/10 The left-arm seamer was right on the money from the word go, moving the ball into Rohit Sharma and putting pressure on the Mumbaikar with four dots upfront. His first two overs went for just seven runs and he returned to bowl two more splendid ones, the first ball of the last accounting for Virat Kohli, to end the day on a high. Alex Hales — 10/10 Slighted by the wrist-spinners in the previous game, Alex Hales seemed to have worked hard in the nets against Merlyn, the bowling machine which was used to replicate the Indian spinners. The rampaging No 4 batsman took his time to settle in, combining with Morgan in a 48-run stand and then with Bairstow and Willey in game-changing partnerships. He went on to hit 18 in the final two overs, including a six and a four off the first two balls of the last over to seal the game for England. Virat Kohli — 9/10 With his top-order faltering, Virat Kohli took it upon himself to stamp his presence in a continent where his T20I average was 24.75 before Friday. He took his time to settle down, played out 22 balls before his first boundary. Busy with his running between the wickets, Kohli managed to make 47 at a decent rate before David Willey dismissed him late in the innings. MS Dhoni — 8/10 With his team in an insecure position, MS Dhoni once again stayed put, rotated the strike and waited for the death overs to unleash his big shots. He had to wait until the last over to get anything in his zone. Two flat-batted smashes down the ground and a pull shot for four through fine leg saw Dhoni finish at an unbeaten 32 off 24 balls. Hardik Pandya — 8/10 Facing a flurry of perfect yorkers from Chris Jordan, Hardik Pandya couldn’t quite get away in the final few overs with the bat but made up for it when he bowled four pretty good overs, mixing up his length and pace to confound England batsmen. His tricky short ball got the better of Eoin Morgan at a crucial juncture and Pandya finished his spell with a decent seven-run over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar — 8/10 Exceptional in his first three overs that went for just seven runs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the hard task of defending 11 off the final over against a well set Alex Hales. A length ball first up and another one down the leg saw him conceded 10 off the first two balls, effectively sealing the game for England. That said, his brilliant three overs prior to the final one cannot be forgotten. Umesh Yadav — 7/10 Hammered for 14 in his opening over, Umesh Yadav made a strong comeback to maintain his impressive powerplay record in T20s. The seamer found enough in the surface to burst through Jason Roy’s defence and then accounted for the dangerous Jos Buttler, ekeing out chances off his bat twice in an over. Virat Kohli dropped the first chance but held onto the second to give Umesh’s figures a boost. The powerplay specialist returned to bowl a superb penultimate over against a rampant Alex Hales. Yuzvendra Chahal — 7/10 The leg-spinner, completely overshadowed in Manchester by his spin twin Kuldeep Yadav, found his rhythm early in Cardiff. He used his flight and dip to keep England guessing and right when their skipper was confident enough to go down to sweep him, Chahal brought out the googly to make a mess of his stumps. He ended up with figures of 1/28 in his four overs. Jonny Bairstow — 7/10 With his side looking for a bit of inspiration, Jonny Bairstow walked in at No 6 and clubbed an 18-ball 28, memorable for the manner in which he treated Kuldeep Yadav. The Chinaman spinner was dismissed for back-to-back sixes by Bairstow in the crucial 17th over which saw 16 runs coming off it. However, the flamboyant England batsman top-edged a pull off Bhuvneshwar next over and Kuldeep completed a good catch to end his cameo. Adil Rashid — 6/10 The leg-spinner has been an influential bowler for England in T20Is and varied his pace, length and turn to flummox the batsmen. With the pace bowlers setting a strong foundation, Rashid just had to carry on the good work. He bettered it by a step when he broke the partnership between Kohli and Suresh Raina by dismissing the latter. Chris Jordan — 6/10 Jordan was excellent in the death overs for England, and succeeded in nailing his yorkers that kept a settled MS Dhoni and a fiery Hardik Pandya quiet. He was wicketless in his four-over spell, but England will know that Jordan is a vital part of their T20 line-up. Suresh Raina — 5/10 With India at 22/3 and Virat Kohli sorely needing a stable hand at one end, Suresh Raina stepped up and played a handy little innings. He countered the short ball aggressively, once playing a forehand smash for four before muscling another one over mid-wicket for six. He was, however, undone by an Adil Rashid googly and couldn’t carry forward the impressive start. Eoin Morgan — 5/10 Much like Suresh Raina, Eoin Morgan played second fiddle to a more assured Alex Hales. With the Indian wrist-spinners lurking, Morgan focussed on staying at the crease and that he did in a useful 48-run stand. He consumed a lot more balls in the process and just when he had passed the difficult phase, the skipper took on Hardik Pandya’s short ball to gift a catch to deep fine-leg, where Dhawan took a blinder. Jos Buttler — 3/10 In red hot form, Jos Buttler watched as his partner, Jason Roy, got off to a great start. He played two exquisite shots to kick-start his innings before gifting a drive to Virat Kohli at mid-off. The skipper put him down but a boundary off the next ball was followed by another uppish drive to Kohli and the Indian captain made no mistake this time around. Buttler’s high-octane innings didn’t do enough to hurt India. Kuldeep Yadav — 2/10 The hero with the ball the other day, Kuldeep Yadav found the going tough against England batsmen who seemed better prepared for wrist-spin and the googly. The Chinaman spinner had immense success with the googly in the first T20I, but found out at Cardiff that Hales, Morgan and Bairstow all played him with much more conviction. Bairstow stamped his authority over Kuldeep in a sixteen-run over that saw him club the spinner for consecutive sixes. Shikhar Dhawan — 2/10 Shikhar Dhawan seemed eager to throw his wicket away at Cardiff as he survived a close run out early in the second over of the innings. Two overs later, he would run awkwardly after dropping his bat mid-run, watch the ball and not slide his bat in as Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan ran him out. The 10 off 12 balls follows a disappointing outing last game at Manchester. He made up a bit for his shoddy batting effort when he pulled off a stunner on the fine-leg to dismiss Eoin Morgan. The catch lifts him one rung up the rankings ladder. Jake Ball — 2/10 Making his T20I debut on a ground where the square boundaries were bigger than the straight ones, England needed Ball’s extra pace and bounce to trouble India’s top-order. He promised much with the wicket of Rohit Sharma upfront but bowled persistently short to MS Dhoni in the final over and gifted 22 runs. Jason Roy — 2/10 Timing the ball delightfully, Jason Roy started off with a bang, slamming Umesh Yadav for two fours and a six in the first over. Roy’s joy didn’t last long though, as Umesh Yadav’s extra pace and zip had him fending awkwardly to be bowled for 15. Joe Root — 1/10 Bamboozled by a brilliant Yuzvendra Chahal, Joe Root registered another unimpressive score with England already in dire straits. Root, who appeared settled at the crease, misread Chahal’s googly and went for the sweep, only to be bowled. England need more from their Test skipper in this format of the game. Rohit Sharma — 1/10 Troubled by the extra pace of Jake Ball, Rohit Sharma, a compulsive puller of the ball, went after a short-pitched delivery to top edge a catch to Buttler. He conceded four dots to David Willey upfront and never looked comfortable in his short stay at the crease. KL Rahul — 1/10 Rahul seemed to be cramped by England’s seamers and ambled along to six off eight balls before he missed an inside-out heave to be cleaned up by Liam Plunkett. In this Indian team, where there is an abundance of openers, KL Rahul will need more than just a knock or two to stay in the playing XI. Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor