Thaindian News

Kolkata, Oct 29 (IANS) Pacer Steven Finn (3/22) led the charge as England restricted India to 120 for nine on a slow track where stroke-making was difficult in a Twenty20 International here Saturday.

Suresh Raina (39) top scored for the hosts who elected to bat on the dry surface at the Eden Gardens and in the end managed to set England an asking rate of 6.05 runs per over, which could be far from an easy challenge considering the state of the Eden Gardens wicket.

Indian skipper in-form Mahendra Singh Dhoni (21; 26 b, 1×6) was the next principal scorer, as he cut out his characteristic flamboyance and played cautiously and went for the slog only in the last over when he hit a six off Jade Dernbach, a ball after being dropped by Jonathan Bairstow at long on.

Winning the toss, India began their batting on the wrong note losing Ajinkya Rahane in the very first over before the batsman could bother the scorer. Wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter took a diving one handed catch to see the back of the youngster off Finn’s bowling.

The wicketkeeper took another great catch in the second over to dismiss opener Robin Uthappa (1), who failed to celebrate his return to the national team after three years. The Karnataka player edged an away ball from Tim Bresnan and Kieswetter grabbed the ball near first slip, reducing the hosts to 5/2.

Virat Kohli, who got a grade 1 contract from the board during the day which assures him a crore of rupees annually, went on the offensive from the start hitting some good shots but was back in the sixth over as his pull off Bresnan ended in the hands of Alex Hales near the long-on boundary.

Suresh Raina’s first two scoring strokes were a six and a four, and he went on to cut English skipper Graeme Swann’s spin for a boundary through point and then hit him over mid-wicket for another six as 16 runs came off the eighth over.

Manoj Tiwary, who came after Kohli’s departure, seemed tentative on the sluggish pitch, but picked up his runs in ones and twos.

India were 65/3 at the halfway stage, but Tiwary’s (15) essay came to an end soon after when he attempted a big hit, played across the line and saw his stumps shattered by left-arm spinner Samit Patel.

Finn did more damage in the next over, getting rid of Raina (39; 29 b, 4×4, 2×6) and Ravindra Jadeja (0) off consecutive deliveries. Raina failed to negotiate a slower one to finish to Jonathan Bairstow at point, while Jadeja bottom edged on to his off-stump. India seemed to be tottering at 74/6 after a dozen overs.

Realising the sluggish surface, Dhoni played cautiously cutting out on adventurous strokes, but Ravi Bopara worsened India’s condition with a double wicket burst in the 17th over. Pathan (10) and Praveen Kumar (0) both played across the line to see their stumps dislodged.