India vs England | We thought 149 would be competitive, says Virat Kohli

England defeated India in the second T20I by five wickets leveling the series 1-1 with the deciding match left to be played in Cardiff. Batting first India didn’t get off to a great start with Rohit Sharma (5), Shikhar Dhawan (10) and in-form KL Rahul (6) all getting out cheaply. It was then that Virat Kohli's 47 off 38 balls along with a quick-fire 32 from MS Dhoni guided India to a score of 148/5 in 20 overs.

India, at one stage, were struggling at 22/3 when Kohli along with Suresh Raina steadied the Indian ship. For England, David Willey was the most successful bowler picking 1 wicket for 18 runs alongside debutant Jake Ball, who also picked one wicket giving away 44 runs. However, despite the shaky start and a scrappy finish to the first innings, which looked more like a damage control, Kohli was of the opinion that the target was competitive.

"Always difficult to come back after losing three early wickets. England hit the right areas and made us play bad shots. Would've liked 10-15 runs more. We thought 149 would be competitive, especially since they had to win. But they eventually did win,” said Virat Kohli at the post-match press conference.  

Chasing 149, England's big hitters at the top order Jos Buttler and Jason Roy, both got out cheaply trying to exploit the powerplay overs off Umesh Yadav. It was Alex Hales whose 41 ball 58 got his side over the line despite the faltering start. One of the major factors that influenced England’s victory was their ability to play Kuldeep Yadav well in the middle overs, who went for 34 runs without picking any wicket. And Kohli rightly praised the English players for it. 

“They played Kuldeep really well today, and that was the difference in the middle overs this time. They did their homework and played Kuldeep really well. Need to get back day after,” he said.  

England required 20 off the last 2 overs to win and Umesh Yadav, who had a pretty decent match, was bowling the penultimate over. He got hit for a boundary on the second last ball that pretty much turned the momentum in England’s favor. Requiring 12 off the final over, Hales hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the Cardiff ground on the very first ball before smashing the second for a boundary. A single followed and David Willey hit Kumar for the winning runs to set up the decider on Monday. However, Kohli refused to blame his bowlers and stated that he is already looking to the next game.

“The format is cruel: Umesh was outstanding, but the final-ball boundary changed things. Those little things count. Gotta brush it aside, had a good game, but England were better than us," he added.