'They played Kuldeep really well' – Kohli hands it to England for series-levelling win

Alex Hales’ unbeaten half-century (58) and some lower-order hitting by Jonny Bairstow (28) helped England bounce back in the series to draw level on 1-1 with one match to play.

What stood out was how England played Kuldeep Yadav, the left-arm wrist spinner, especially after the first game in Manchester where he took five wickets and had their best batsmen out. On Friday, 6 July, Yadav went wicketless.

“They played Kuldeep really well today, and that was the difference in the middle overs this time," said Virat Kohli, the India captain, adding, "We got to brush it aside. [We] had a good game, but England were better than us.”

Hales, who had looked out of sorts in the first game, scoring 8 off 18 before being bowled by Yadav, was much better against him on Friday. "The other day was just a bad day at the office," said Hales, celebrating a "much needed win". “I had to look at a bit more footage of the spinners, and this time I played more on the back foot.”

His captain, Eoin Morgan, with whom he shared a 48-run fourth-wicket stand, added, “The way Alex played today, he adapted to conditions really well, and did small partnerships that helped us chase this down. We normally play spin quite well, but it's a matter of being logical while playing.”

“They played him carefully," agreed Yadav’s spin-partner Yuzvendra Chahal, who returned 1/28. "They picked and chose which deliveries to attack against Yadav. They picked the balls to attack and the ones to leave. [But] I think we bowled well as we took the game to the last over despite having only scored 150 (148)."

Even as they adjusted to the spin, Morgan was also happy with how they adjusted to a pitch had more bounce. “We showed character. There was a bit more bounce today. When it bounces you can take wickets, and that's what we did,” he said.

It was a tense last-over finish as England, who were left to chase 50 runs off the last six overs, did well to hit Yadav for two sixes in an over – the innings' 17th that went for 16 runs – which in turn helped them narrow the deficit. Despite a three-run over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar that followed, they were left with 12 to get off the last six balls.

Kumar, who had conceded only seven runs from three overs until then, missed his mark in the last, going for a six and a four off the first two balls – both hit by Hales.

“We didn’t need 170 or 180 here because the wicket was different from the previous match. We could have defended 150 had we contained the sixes we conceded towards the end,” Chahal rued.

Kohli added, “We would've liked 10-15 runs more. We thought 149 would be competitive, especially since they had to win. But they eventually did win.”