NEW DELHI: Chasing 171-run target, England lost Luke Wright (6) and Alex Hales (0) early against India in their final group league encounter in the ICC World Twenty20 on Sunday.Scorecard
Pacer Irfan Pathan struck twice in his first two overs to jolt England's run chase as they were reduced to 18/2 in 2.4 overs.
Pathan gave India a early breakthrough when he dismissed Hales in the very first over.
Sent in to bat, fine batting by Rohit Sharma (55 not out), Gautam Gambhir (45) and Virat Kohli (40) guided India to a fighting total of 170/4.
Rohit was the pick of the Indian batsmen as he remained unbeaten on 55 off just 33 balls, which included a huge six and five hits to the fence.
The right-hander stitched two useful partnerships of 47 and 38 with skipper MS Dhoni (9) and Gambhir for the fourth and third wickets respectively.
Gambhir also played a useful knock of 45 off 38 as the southpaw smashed five boundaries in his innings.
Graeme Swann gave England a crucial breakthrough in the eleventh over when he dismissed in-form Kohli to halt Indian run charge.
Kohli, who is in the form of his life, played another useful knock as he hit six boundaries in his 32-ball 40.
After losing Irfan Pathan (8) early, Kohli and Gambhir put on quick 57-run stand for the second wicket to lead the India innings.
India lost opener Pathan (8) in the third over after a quick start.
Paceman Steven Finn struck early to get rid of Pathan after the Indian openers added 24 runs in 2.4 overs.
Pathan, who was sent in to open in the absence of Virender Sehwag, failed to capitalise the opportunity as he hit just one boundary in his run-a-ball innings.
"We have batted in the first game, so it is nice to field first," Broad said after winning the toss.
England brought in Tim Bresnan for Samit Patel. Whereas, India have left out Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Manoj Tiwary for the inconsequential match.
Earlier, England skipper Stuart Broad won the toss and decided to field against India.
India's listless bowling attack aim to put up an improved performance ahead of the Super Eight stage as both teams are through to the 'Super Eight'.
While the Indian team management will be looking to plug the loopholes that appeared in the match against Afghanistan, England, after a facile 116-run win, will look to repeat that performance against a much better team.
Teams:
India: MS Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, Virat Kohli, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.
England: Stuart Broad (Capt), Jonathan Bairstow, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.
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