Team India clinch the T20I series 3-2 after a dominating show
Team India lost yet another toss at Narendra Modi Stadium but that didn’t stop the team from clinching the T20 series 3-2! Earlier India made a change to bring in T Natarajan for KL Rahul as they went in with a new opening combination with captain Virat opening with Rohit Sharma. England remained unchanged with their playing 11.
The New Opening Combo
The duo of captain Kohli and Rohit Sharma brought up their 50 partnership in 5.2 overs with the help of a stunning pull for a maximum by Kohli off Mark Wood’s bowling. Rohit Sharma followed suit and hit a SIX in the same over and deposited in the stands in the same area as his batting partner did just a few balls ago
Both batsmen helped India to 60 runs for no loss in powerplay. Sharma brought his fifty up in 30 balls with a sensational six off Sam Curran.
Rohit Sharma departed for 64 in 34 balls as he played a Ben Stokes delivery on to the stumps. Virat & Rohit put a partnership of 94 runs in 9 overs which was quite crucial having dropped a batsman in the playing 11.
Surya-Storm from the word go!
Suryakumar Yadav walked in at No.3 again and he showed his intent from ball 1. He was busy between the wickets and played some sumptuous shots to get going. By 12 overs mark India were 133-1 with Virat Kohli on 30 in 25 balls and Suryakumar Yadav on 31 in 13 balls. Suryakumar’s innings came to an end after a stupendous running relay catch by Chris Jordan at the boundary who passed the ball on to Jason Roy before running over the boundary line!
Captain Kohli finish
India were 143-2 in 13.2 overs at the loss of Suryakumar Yadav. Hardik Pandya was promoted up the order to continue accelerating the proceedings.
Captain Kohli brought up his half century in 36 balls and was set to power the slog with Hardik Pandya. Pandya struck some form finally with a 17 ball 39. India reached the 200 mark with a Hardik Pandya SIX in 18.2 overs!
Captain Kohli remained unbeaten on 80 runs in 52 balls as India ended their innings with a very formidable 224-2 in 20 overs. It is India’s highest T20I score against England and Virat Kohli’s highest score for Team India as an opener!
Buttler-Malan combine forces
Defending 224 runs – Team India couldn’t have asked for a better start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned up Jason Roy off the second ball in the first over which went for just 1 run The new man in Dawid Malan made his intentions clear when he welcome Hardik Pandya with a 4,6 and 4 off the first 3 balls of the 2nd over.
Jos Buttler joined in the action scoring boundaries off Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar. England were 62-1 in powerplay still needing 163 runs to win in 14 overs.
England brought up their hundred in 9.2 overs with both the batsmen on identical forty scores. At half way stage – England scored 104/1 needing 121 runs to win in last 10 overs!
Dawid Malan brought up his half century in 33 balls with a SIX off Natarajan and then followed it up another six and a four. A brilliant power up for the 2nd half of the innings as T Natarajan went for 16 runs in the over as England scored 120 in 11 overs reducing the require run rate to less than 12! The next over Buttler brought up his 12th T20I in 30 balls.
When Dawid Malan picked a single off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 13th over – He became the fastest batsman to score 1000 runs in T20 Internationals. He achieved this feat in 24 matches breaking the record by Babar Azam who achieved it in 26 matches.
The Bhuvi Effect
With Bhuvneshwar Kumar suffocating England with dot balls in the 13th over – Jos Buttler attempted a maximum over boundary but succumbed to a catch at long off by Hardik Pandya! Buttler scored 52 in 34 balls with the help of 2 fours & 4 sixes. Bhuvi conceded 3 runs and picked a wicket in the 13th over. England now needed 95 runs to win in 42 balls.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished his spell of 4-0-15-2 with 17 dot balls which was the huge difference between both teams!
Choke and Finish
Hardik Pandya followed up with a 6 run over and with pressure mounting on England – Shardul Thakur picked the wickets of Bairstow (7) and Dawid Malan (68 in 46 balls) in the 15th over – leaving England to score 83 runs in last 5 overs for the win.
Eoin Morgan fell the next over to Hardik Pandya top edging a pull short down at long on as substitute fielder KL Rahul took one comfortably!
With half side gone – and needing a herculean target Ben Stokes too perished for 14 and the rest of the team followed suit. England finished the innings at 188-8 as India clinched the match by 36 runs despite 20 runs conceded in the final over. India grabbed the T20I series 3-2 after losing the first match! This is India’s 2nd win on a trot after losing the toss as Narendra Modi Stadium
Match Summary
India 224-2 in 20 overs
Rohit Sharma 64 (34) – 4 fours & 5 sixes
VVirat Kohli 80*(52) – 7 fours & 2 sixes
Suryakumar Yadav 32 (17) – 3 fours & 2 sixes
Hardik Pandya 39*(17) – 4 fours & 2 sixes
England 188-8 in 20 overs
Dawid Malan 68 (46) – 9 fours – 2 sixes
Jos Buttler 52 (34) – 2 fours & 4 sixes
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-15-2
INDIA WON BY 36 RUNS
Playing XIs:
India:
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar, T Natarajan.
England:
Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid.
Toss: England won the toss and elect to bowl
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium
Man of the Match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Man of the Series: Virat Kohli
My dream team will feature Marcus Trescothick and Anil Kumble
