England captain Harry Brook praised Jacob Bethell’s maturity and match-winning innings after the hosts pulled off a four-wicket victory over India in the second T20I at Old Trafford on Saturday (July 4).

Chasing 191 to win, the Three Lions got off to a shaky start and were struggling at 133/5 in the 16th over but Bethell led the way with an unbeaten 76 off 46 balls, reaching the target in 19 overs.

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Brook commended Bethell for delivering the Player-of-the-Match performance, hailing the southpaw as a player whose influence extends well beyond his batting.

“Yeah, he's awesome to have out there (Bethell). He rallies the troops really well when we're out in the field, and gives me a massive hand out there as well. And he's so mature for his age, and he's got a very long career ahead of him,” Brook said.

The skipper noted that despite the poor start, the team remained confident due to favorable ground dimensions and wind conditions.

“We knew that we could chase that with the wind and the dimensions of the ground. The idea was to get off to a really good start in the powerplay. That didn't quite work in the first couple of overs. But we were happy with where we were after that powerplay. And then the way that Beth played there was phenomenal,” he added.

Brook also highlighted that an economical, tight middle-over spell bowled by Sam Curran and Will Jacks helped restrict India's scoring as they utilized the playing conditions to perfection.

“Yeah, and again, it was just about using the dimensions and the wind as well as we could. And that little spell that we had with him (Curran) and Jacksie, I can't remember what over it was, but I think they went for about 10 or 12 runs. And that was vital in the context of the game,” he remarked.

Reflecting on England’s overall batting philosophy, Harry Brook said the side relies on combining explosive power with smart innovation to exploit vacant scoring areas, particularly during the powerplay.

“I think you've got to try and maximise the powerplay as well as you can, really. And all our batters have so much strength and power, but innovation as well, and we can hit different parts of the ground. And I thought we used that really well,” he stated.

Brook also explained a successful fielding strategy that limited the opponent's scoring and maximized England's own running efficiency.

“Extremely pleased, yeah. I thought the lads toiled around in the field... outstanding. And it's one of the things that we spoke about, trying to get off the rope and stop the twos. And there were some decent stats there. I think we had 11 twos and they had five. So we were pretty happy with that,” he concluded.

The third T20I of the five-match series will be played at Trent Bridge on Tuesday (July 7).

(With IANS Inputs)