India bounced back from a 0-1 deficit for the third successive time in international cricket and sealed the five-match T20I series against England on Saturday. In fact, they came back from 1-2 here as well to complete a 3-2 win against the top-ranked T20I team. This was a strong statement ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held later this year in India.
On Saturday, the Indians, after being sent in to bat yet again, ended with a huge total of 224/2, their highest against England and fourth highest overall. Then Bhuvneshwar Kumar pitched in with a spell of 4-0-15-2 to help India over the line in a game where more than 400 runs were scored.
Impressed by the efforts of Suryakumar Yadav at No. 3 in the fourth T20I, India made a crucial change to their playing XI. They dropped KL Rahul and got in T Natarajan to strengthen their bowling attack. The move meant that Virat Kohli walked out to open with Rohit Sharma for the first time in T20Is. The move paid off as Rohit looked in dangerous form, while Kohli focused on holding one end up and anchoring the innings.
Rohit put up a great display of power-hitting from the word go. He smashed leg-spinner Adil Rashid for six to get off the mark and was particularly harsh on Mark Wood, undoubtedly the best fast bowler for England in the series. Kohli played second fiddle as Rohit continued his onslaught, hitting five sixes and four fours in his 64 that came in just 34 deliveries.
The dismissal of Rohit, however, did not impact the run rate as Suryakumar played a number of outrageous shots in his stay at the middle. He opened his account with a six yet again and followed it up with another next ball to go past Kohli. His 17-ball 32 was eventually ended with a freak catch as Chris Jordan relayed the ball to Jason Roy at deep mid-wicket with a one-hand running effort.
A restrained Kohli allowed Rohit and Suryakumar to play their shots. He had scored only 41 off his first 31 balls. But he paced his innings beautifully to score 39 off the last 21 balls to help India reach 224.
In reply, England got off to a dismal start as Roy departed for duck off the third ball. Bhuvneshwar gave away a solitary run in the first over of the innings. However, Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, the world’s number one T20I batsman, steadied the ship as they attacked early and stayed within touching distance of the asking rate. Washington Sundar was unimpressive for the second night in a row as the Buttler and Malan put on a 122-run stand.
But with the Indians bowling accurately, Buttler had no option but to go for a big shot in an attempt to break the shackles. He ended up miscuing to long on. The dismissal sparked a collapse as Jonny Bairstow and Malan followed soon afterwards to all but end England’s chance in the game, and the series.
Brief Scores:
India 224/2 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 80*, Rohit Sharma 64; Ben Stokes 1-26) beat England 188/8 in 20 overs (Dawid Malan 68, Jos Buttler 52; Shardul Thakur 3-45, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-15) by 36 runs. Player of the Match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
India won the series 4-1. Player of the Series: Virat Kohli.