2nd T20I: England beat India by five wickets to stay alive in series

England cricket team returned with a roar to beat India by five wickets in the second T201 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. 

Alex Hales became the star of the night as he smashed an unbeaten 58 runs in a game that went undecided until the last-over was bowled. Hales slammed four boundaries and three sixes in his 41 balls inning while chasing a target of 149 runs.

England side suffered a setback after they lost their top order too early.  Umesh Yadav took wickets of both the openers - Jason Roy and Jos Buttler for 15 and 14 respectively. Earlier, former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) played a spectacular knock of 32 runs. 

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Dhoni, who played his 500th international game, clobbered 22 runs in the final over in the second T20 International against England. The wicketkeeper-batsman remained unbeaten off 24 balls with the help of five boundaries.

The 'Men in Blue' lost the opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan and last game's centurion KL Rahul, with just 22 runs on the board.

It was after that current skipper Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina established a partnership to save the team from drowning. Kohli stood firm and slammed 47 runs amid the ruins and found an able ally in Suresh Raina, who contributed crucial 27 and added 57 runs for the fourth wicket.

Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bowl against India at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Friday. The Eoin Morgan-side will be looking to make a comeback after they suffered a humiliating 8-wicket defeat.

Talking after the toss, Morgan said, "We are going to bowl. Yeah we do (fancy chasing). The wicket looks good. The weather has been good in the past few weeks and the surface reflects that. We have one change: Jake Ball comes in to make his debut."

"The combination of both, obviously India are strong against spin and the side boundaries are short. So we have gone for seam versus spin. I hope so, only time will tell (playing spin using Merlyn - the bowling machine). It is a good situation to be in, the pressure to get results," he added.

Kuldeep Yadav's fifer and KL Rahul's unbeaten 101 outclassed the hosts in the first of the three-match T20 series.

Talking about his strategy for today, Kohli said, " We would have bowled first as well. It looks like a great track. Nothing will change over 40 overs and that is the positive I take. We won't mind in defending a target. When you have a young side, they are fearless, no baggage and enjoying the country. We have been clinical."

"That will challenge their character as well, how well they hit their areas. The side boundaries will help them and give them more room to play around with, something we will look to exploit. It does not matter and I don't know these things, when they happen and how they happen," he added.

"We are only focused on things that happen on the field (On Willey being unhappy about Indian bowlers stopping while delivering the ball), the skipper concluded.