India vs England: Conditions did not favour Kuldeep Yadav in Cardiff - Eoin Morgan

England captain Eoin Morgan said Kuldeep Yadav’s failure to take single wicket in the second wicket may have a lot to do with conditions Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

England captain Eoin Morgan admitted to have been surprised by the conditions on offer at the Sophia Gardens for the second T20 International and felt it was the main reason of Kuldeep Yadav not being as effective as at Old Trafford. (INDIA vs ENGLAND 2nd T20I HIGHLIGHTS)

India's Kuldeep Yadav (2nd R) is congratulated after taking a catch to dismiss England's Jonny Bairstow during the second T20 at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. (AFP)

“Certainly conditions out there surprised me quite a bit – the bounce was a lot more than we thought it was going to be,” said Morgan, after leading his team to a five-wicket win to square the series 1-1. (INDIA vs ENGLAND 2nd T20I SCORECARD)

Talking about his batsmen handling Kuldeep’s wrist spin well, denying him a wicket after he had claimed a fifer in the opening game, Morgan said: “The conditions were different. He’s a very good bowler and he’ll bowl well the majority of the time. But I thought conditions at Old Trafford suited him more than conditions today. I thought with the pace and bounce of the wicket that the seamers might have dominated a bit more. But I thought our plans were a lot clearer. We played him well.”

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The hero of the match for England was Alex Hales. It was a fine turnaround if fortunes for the experienced batsman after being all at sea against the spinners in the first game, he came out on Friday and took the game away from Indian with an unbeaten 58 off 41 balls.

“He really did play brilliantly. He’s played a lot of T20 International cricket, and he’s obviously played a lot around the world – and he certainly used that tonight,” said Hales’ captain, praising his effort.

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“Having the composure to play quite a mature innings, as he did … then towards the end, he’s not known as a big hitter but anybody who watched the game at Trent Bridge will realise he hits the ball quite a long way – even yorkers.

“We had quite a lot of confidence in him, but it is very nice to get over the line.”