India overpowered England by 49 runs to win the second T20I at Edgbaston on Saturday.
England, set 171 for victory, were dismissed for 121 in 17 overs, with India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking 3-15 in a Man of the Match display.
Kumar set the tone from the start of England’s chase, having the dangerous Jason Roy caught at slip by India captain Rohit Sharma for a first-ball duck.
The medium-pacer followed up by having England captain Jos Buttler, one of the world’s best white-ball batsmen, caught behind for just four.
And when the hard-hitting Liam Livingstone was bowled by a superb off-cutter from Jasprit Bumrah, the hosts had slumped to 27-3 inside five overs.
Moeen Ali (35) and David Willey (33*) tried to get England back on track but, with wickets falling steadily at the other end, the odds were always against them and the match ended with exactly three overs left when Harshal Patel yorked No 11 Matt Parkinson.
Earlier, India made 170-8 after being sent into bat.
England debutant paceman Richard Gleeson removed all of India’s top three – Rohit, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant – on his way to 3-15 after the tourists had been 49-0.
Chris Jordan followed up with 4-27 before Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 46 kept India in the game.
Gleeson struck with just his sixth ball in international cricket, removing Rohit for a quick-fire 31 when the opener top-edged a hook before wicketkeeper Buttler holding a good catch as he ran back.
Gleeson then took two wickets in two balls at the start of his next over.
Star batsman Kohli, now without a hundred in 76 international innings across all formats, fell for just one when he sliced Gleeson and Dawid Malan held a fine catch over his shoulder as he ran from backward point.
Pant (26 off 15 balls) then charged at Gleeson but was caught behind off an inside edge.
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya repaired some of the damage before they were dismissed by consecutive Jordan deliveries to leave India 89-5 before all-rounder Jadeja got India to a competitive total.
The three-match series concludes at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge on Sunday.
© Agence France-Presse
