After The Great Indian Massacre in tests, came three straight wins against the county teams which not only uplifted the spirit of the injured, hurt, incomplete and clueless Indian team but also gave a reason for millions of its followers to look forward to the one off T20 and the ODI series that follows. And the atmosphere at the refurbished Old Trafford did suggest that the past was forgotten as Indian fans flocked in to witness what turned out to be a contest worth waiting for.
England did look a better side on paper and indeed in the match but only marginally. While Alex Hales and Jos Butler made their T20 debuts for the hosts, Ajinkya Rahane and veteran Rahul Dravid did so for the visitors. MSD called it right and without the slightest doubt in his mind opted to bat first on a wicket which in the opinion of Wasim Akram wasn't tailored for a high scoring match.
The Indian innings started with two new openers, Parthiv Patel and the debutant Rahane looking confident to take the attack to the opposition. Rahane didn't seem like was playing his first match and played some exquisite shots to provide a much needed momentum to the Indian innings from the outset. Patel however didn't last long and perished to a slower delivery from Dernbach which brought to the crease India's best batsman on the tour, Rahul Dravid who at the start looked edgy but stunned everyone by smacking Samit Patel for three consecutive sixes. Meanwhile, boundaries kept flowing from Rahane's bat as he reached his 50. England then bounced back with three quick wickets to reduce India from 104-1 to 108-4. Dernbach's 4-22 triggered the Indian collapse and only thanks to Suresh Raina's cameo in the end that India managed to put up a decent 165 on the board.
England didn't have the best of starts as Hales was caught in front of the stumps of the second ball of their innings which brought the dangerous Pietersen at the crease. The Pietersen-Kieswetter stand had started to look ominous before Kieswetter was dismissed by Munaf and only three runs later Dhoni's brilliant stumping off the part-timer Kohli got rid of Pietersen. Morgan however played a very sensible knock and guided the chase exceptionally well alongwith Bopara who didn't quite match Morgan's flair. Their partnership worked 73 runs before Munaf had Morgan held by Rohit Sharma. Morgan had almost done the job for England scoring 49 with 7 fours and a six at a strike rate of over 180. The match was well in balance at this point with England still needing 32 runs in 39 balls and Bopara and Samit Patel at the crease. Both played sensibly leaving only 13 runs to be scored off the final two overs. Munaf Patel bowled an excellent 19th over conceding only 3 runs changing the equation to 10 runs off the last over. Vinay Kumar started the final over with a wide and the next three deliveries getting hit for boundaries by a calm headed Samit Patel resulting in England's win in a close game.
Jade Dernbach was adjudged Man of the Match!
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