India eye an unassailable 2-0 lead when they take on hosts England in the second of the three-match T20I series at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Friday, July 6.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The second T20I between England and India will start at 5:30 pm BST and 10 pm IST.
Sony Six and Sony Six HD will provide live television coverage of the match. The live stream will be available on Sony Liv.
England vs India: 2nd T20I preview
India could not have asked for a better start to their long tour of England as they crushed the hosts by eight wickets in the first of a three-match T20I series in Manchester on Tuesday.
England, who had headed into the series on the back of whitewashing Australia in a five-match ODI series and a one-off T20I, were brought down to earth as they struggled against Kuldeep Yadav's left-arm wrist-spin.
Eoin Morgan & Co. had demolished the Australian bowling attack last month but quality wrist-spin seems to be a huge cause for concern.
The Kolkata Knight Riders' spinner picked up a fifer, running through the English middle-order after the hosts raced to a solid start. While Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler went for the big hits before perishing, Jonny Bairstow and English Test captain had no clue as to which way the ball was spinning as Kuldeep foxed them with wrong uns.
England seek help from 'Merlyn' to counter spin threat
England, to tackle India's spin threat, have taken the help of "Merlyn", the spin bowling machine which is generally used ahead of away tours to the sub-continent or the UAE, according to Cricbuzz.
"Merlyn is a good addition, especially when you don't have so someone to replicate bowling left-arm 'chinaman'. It is 'over-training' actually because Merlyn obviously does spin and bounce a lot more. But if you come out of a Merlyn session you're in pretty good order," English all-rounder Chris Jordan told the media on the eve of the 2nd T20I.
England though got their batting-order wrong in the first T20I. Root, who bats at No. 3 in Tests, was a misfit at No. 6. The hosts will be well-served if they promote their Test captain higher-up the order as he can handle spinners better than the rest.
Conditions in Cardiff to favour India
On the other hand, India will be hoping to assert their dominance yet again and seal the series.
KL Rahul, the centurion from the first T20I, looks hungry for more, and Shikhar Dhawan, who has enjoyed good form lately, will be hoping to make up for the failure in the first Test.
The conditions in Cardiff — slow track and scorching heat — will only make Virat Kohli & co. happy.
Probable playing XIs
India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wk), Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav.
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Jason Roy, Joe Root, Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Jake Ball, David Willey, Chris Jordan.
England vs India: T20Is Global TV guide and live stream
- Subcontinent: Sony Ten 3
- UK: Sky Sports Main Event; Live streaming: Sky Go
- US: Willow TV
- Australia: Fox Sports
- South Africa: SuperSport
