Top-ranked England and second-ranked India will continue the five-match T20I series with the fourth match on 18 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. England have taken a 2-1 lead in conditions where winning the toss and chasing have been the mantra. The margins of victory – eight wickets, seven wickets, eight wickets – bear testimony to how crucial the toss has been. Batting in the second innings has been proved much easier, largely due to the dew factor.
Sent in to bat in the third match, the Indian top order struggled. KL Rahul scored his second duck of the series, Ishan Kishan managed only four, and Rohit Sharma, returning to the side, could contribute only 15. Even Virat Kohli could not lift the pace in the beginning, and India managed just 100 at the end of 16th over. Mark Wood created problems with his pace, and picked up three wickets.
Kohli showed his sublime touch in the last four overs. He ended up unbeaten on 77 from 46 balls, his second consecutive seventy, and helped India add another 56, but it was never going to be enough.
After two relatively quiet matches, Jos Buttler then returned to his destructive best with a career-best of 52-ball 83 not out. England won with 10 balls to spare. Jonny Bairstow, too, continued his good form to remain unbeaten on 40, reaching the 1,000-run mark during this innings. No Indian bowler managed to leave a mark. The recent lack of form of Yuzvendra Chahal should be a big concern for the team management.
It will be interesting to see whether the teams prioritise testing combinations over the series win. Will India continue to rotate their players and face the risk of losing their second T20I series at home in four years? Will England play the same combination or experiment with squad players like Sam Billings, Reece Topley, and Tom Curran?
Based on that strategy, India may continue with Rahul despite his ordinary form, or give Suryakumar Yadav another chance. The latter will mean another new opening pair for them with either Kishan partnering his Mumbai Indians captain or Kohli promoting himself. In the bowling department, they can bring Deepak Chahar and T Natarajan, two T20 specialists they have in their squad. They do not have many spin options and should give another chance to Chahal.
For England, the opening combination of Roy and Buttler has done well, and Liam Livingstone still may have to wait. Moeen Ali is yet to get a match, as the team management has trusted Adil Rashid. He may make a comeback in place of Sam Curran, who bowled only two overs in the previous match, to provide a spin cover.
Key Players:
Virat Kohli (India): After some middling performances during the Test series and a duck in the first T20I, Kohli is back with back-to-back outstanding performances. He also became the first man to reach the 3,000-run mark in T20I. India’s comeback in the series will depend a lot on his form.
Jason Roy (England): Roy has proved his value at the top of the order in the first two matches. He has been in great touch and. A surprise rejection by all IPL franchises, Roy may be motivated to show his worth in front of Indian cricket fraternity.
Probable playing XIs
India: KL Rahul (wk), Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid