All eyes were on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi when he finally earned his maiden international cap in Manchester on Saturday to become India's youngest-ever debutant. But neither was it a perfect start to international cricket for the teenage sensation, who replaced the struggling Sanju Samson, nor would India like to look back at this second T20I as England beat them by four wickets with an over to spare.
With the series opener being a no-result due to rain, England lead 1-0 with three more matches left.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, India, despite losing Sooryavanshi for not too many runs and his opening partner Abhishek Sharma against the run of play, were still in a strong position to reach a 200-plus total. Their scorecard read 130/3 in 13 overs.
But in the next 5.5 overs of the innings, India could manage just 37, losing Shivam Dube, the well-set Ishan Kishan and Axar Patel. However, 23 runs of the last seven legitimate balls of the innings lifted India's total to 190/7.
The late blows had certainly given India some momentum as Arshdeep Singh picked up both English openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler for just a run on the board. Rival skipper Harry Brook was looking dangerous, till Axar's leg-stump line trumped him.
But Jacob Bethell (76 not out off 46 balls) showed his class once again, feasting particularly on leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who also made England's task easier with three back-foot no-balls.
Off each of those free hits, Bethell smoked Bishnoi for a six. Bishnoi leaked 29 runs from the 17th over of the chase, much to the delight of Bethell and his teammates, and there was no looking back for England thereafter.