Jos Buttler dominant show gives England 2-1 lead in T20I Series

England took a 2-1 lead in the T20I series as Jos Buttler made easy of the total with a dominant display with the bat. England put Indian under constant pressure from the start but for the rescue act of Virat Kohli that helped India put some score on the board after being reduced to 24/3 in powerplay.

England won the much important toss at Narendra Modi Stadium and elect to field. India made one change bringing back Rohit Sharma in place of Suryakumar Yadav – which meant Ishan Kishan will drop down to no.3. The pace of Mark Wood was back for England.

KL Rahul’s disastrous form took an extended run when he was dismissed for a 4 ball duck . Rahul’s opening partner Rohit Sharma too departed for 15 mistiming a 146.5kmph delivery by Mark Wood which ended in the hands of Jofra Archer at short fine leg. The very next over Ishan Kishan who had a dream debut top edged a bouncer in the air off Chris Jordan as Buttler comfortably took a catch running backwards!

India were reduced to 24/3 in Powerplay – Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant fresh at the crease. The duo steadied the situation with a 40 run stand but a bizzare quest for an extra run cost Pant his wicket.

Shreyas Iyer was dimissed for 9 by Mark Wood as India lost half the squad for 86 in 14.3 overs. Hardik Pandya who walked in with team needing some quick fire runs, struggled initially against the extra pace cranked up by Mark Wood and Jofra Archer.

Meanwhile captain Virat took the onus on him to get the quick runs as he thumped Sixes off short pitched deliveries by Archer and Wood. Kohli reached his half century in 37 balls. Post half century he continued dealing in Sixes to up the ante as India reached 150 runs with 3 balls remaining in the innings!

Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 77 runs in 46 balls with the help of 8 fours & 4 sixes as India scampered to 156-6 in 20 overs. Mark Wood who returned after missing the previous game picked 3 wickets.

Defending 156 runs, the Indian new ball bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur made use of the early movement on the pitch to push the English openers on the back foot.

Yuzvendra Chahal was brought in the 4^th over and Jos Buttler released some pressure with a 2 maximums but Jason Roy fell attempting a reverse sweep which was mistimed straight in the hands of Rohit Sharma at backward point. That did not stop Buttler continue his aggressive approach as keeper batsman brought up his half century in 26 balls. This was Buttler’s 11th half century in 69 T20I innings.

Dawid Malan who joined in Buttler departed at the end of 10^th over – stumped by Pant off Washington Sundar as Malan shimmied down the track and was beaten by the  quick away turner that bounced at 102.4kmph. England were 83/2 at half way stage needing 74 runs to win in 60 balls.

Washington Sundar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked like the only Indian bowlers who kept England in check while the duo of Buttler and Bairstow chunked runs against other bowlers to dominate the required equation.

Buttler and Bairstow put on an unbeaten partnership of 77 in 52 balls to steer England to a thumping win. Jos Buttler scored 83* runs in 52 balls as Bairstow scored 40* in 28 balls including a winning boundary!

Buttler now averages 51.23 as an opener in T20 Internationals- with 7 of his 11 half centuries. He also holds a strike rate of 153.10 as an opener which is 13 points more than his career strike rate!

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Match Summary

India 156-6 in 20 overs

Virat Kohli 77*(46) – 8 fours & 4 sixes

Rishabh Pant 25 (20) – 3 fours

Mark Wood 4-0-31-3

Chris Jordan 4-1-35-2

England 158-2 in 18.2 overs

Jos Buttler 83*(52) – 5 fours & 4 sixes

Jonny Bairstow 40*(28) – 5 fours

Washington Sundar 4-0-26-1

ENGLAND WON BY 8 WICKETS

Man of the Match: Jos Buttler