Virat Kohli

India win series 3-2 and decider match by 36 runs

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

Fifth Twenty20, Ahmedabad

India 224-2 off 20 overs, Kohl 80 no off 52, 7 frous, 2 sixes, Rohit Sharma 64 off 34, 4 fours, 5 sixes, S Yadav 32 off 17, 3 fours, 2 sixes, H Panda 39 off 17, 4 fours, 2 sixes, Rashid 1-31, Stokes 1-26.

England 188-8 (20 overs) Malan 68 off 46, 9 fours, 2 sixes, Buttler 52 off 34, fours, 4 sixes, Curran 14 off 3, 2 sixes, Bhuvaneshwar 2-15, H Panda 1-34, Thakur 3-45, Natarajan 1-19

India won by 36 runs

A thrilling series  where India fought back from the jaws of defeat once again to seal its ninth straight T20I series win.

England lost their Twenty20 series decider to an India side that followed their masterclass batting performance with some wonderful bowling in Ahmedabad.

Virat Kohli anchored  India with 80 not out from 52 balls with Rohit Sharma  64 from 34, Hardik Panda 39 not out from 17 and Suryakumar Yadav 32 from 17 to contribute  to the victory.

The hosts made a challenging 224-2  which was their highest T20 score against England and set the tourists what would have been their second highest successful chase in the shortest format.

England were on course at 127-1 after 12 over,  but Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl a brilliant 13th over conceding only three runs and more importantly trapped Joe Butler who was sailing at 52 caught at long-off.

Although, David Malan remained  till he achieved 68 Shardul Thakur bowled got him out.  Asking England to score 83 from the final five overs was a huge ask.

England’s chase started with Jason Roy Swiping Bhuvenshwar from the second ball of the chase, only for Malan  and Buttler driving and deflecting  with their partnership of 130, prepared England for the hunt.

Bhuvenshwar proved the difference with no great pace, as he held the nerve with accuracy and trickery to return incredible figures of 2-15 from his four overs.

Thakur bowled tightly with his own changes of pace, when Buttler’s wicket, England went 22 deliveries without finding the boundary.

Jonny Bairstow, Malan and Eoin Morgan fell for two runs in the space of seven deliveries all to slower bowlers, as England ground to a halt.

Kohli and Rohit  came together with devastating effect and thrilling results.

Rpohit played beautifully driving and pulling with awesome force, The first wicket stand of 94 came in only nine overs.  Suryakumar hitting two glorious lofted drives for sixes off Adil Rashid from the second and third balls he faced.

Kohli taking only 25 from his first 23 balls then 55 from the next 29, He was joined in the final assault by Hardik to make England powerless in the face of such destruction on a superb surface.

The tourists only won games after batting second and there are questions over the quality of their back-up bowling, Jordan and Sam Curran struggled to make an impact, while Moeen Ali  never made it on the pitch.

India will start the World Cup as favourites but England are still to be very much feared.

Virat Kohli, Indian captain said: “ It was a complete game for us. We totally outplayed the opposition. The fact Rishabh and Shreyas didn’t get the chance to bat and still got close to 230 is testament to how we did with the bat. I have batted in different poisons in the past, but I feel we have a solid middle order now. Now it is about the two best players getting the maximum number of balls  in T20 cricket. I would like to partner Rohit at the top.”

England captain Eoin Morgan: “ It has been extremely productive. To play a strong India team in their own conditions was fantastic. Ideally we would have played on wickets that turned more just to get that exposure Regardless of the result we are looking to grow and get better. We played some really good cricket. There are lot of positives to build on.”

 

Tabitha Lasley  spend six