Ahmedabad, Mar 20: Dishing out a dominating all-round show, India toppled England in the high-scoring fifth Twenty20 to not only claim the series 3-2 but also prove that their preparations for the T20 World Cup are moving in the right direction.
Rohit Sharma’s sensational 64 off 34 balls and skipper Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 80 off 52 balls powered India to a massive 224 for two, their best ever total against England, after the visitors won the toss for the fourth time in the series and opted to field on Saturday.
In the run chase, Jos Buttler (52 off 34) and Dawid Malan (68 off 46) kept India on the edge with a threatening 130-run stand but England’s challenged fizzled with the fall of the wicketkeeper-batsman in the 13th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
England’s innings eventually ended at 188 for eight as they lost match by 36 runs.
The dew was a factor in the second innings but the Indian bowlers overcame that to defend the target on a batting beauty.
Bhuvneshwar was impressive in his comeback series and saved his best for the decider to end with two wickets for 15 runs in four overs.
Apart from Bhuvneshwar’s successful return from injury, the big plus for India was the emergence of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Hardik Pandya was back to bowling regularly, marking another positive for Kohli’s team which proved in the series that it can win while chasing as well as batting first.
England were dealt a big blow at the start of the daunting chase with Bhuvneshwar castling Jason Roy’s stumps with an inswinger.
However, incoming batsman Malan ensured the required big hits kept coming and in the company of the dangerous Buttler, took England to 104 for one in 10 overs.
Malan, the world number one batsman, who did not fire earlier in the series, was in his elements. His off side play was the highlight of his innings which comprised nine fours and two sixes.
The momentum shifted decisively in India’s favour when Buttler holed out at long off with Bhuvneshwar conceding only three runs in that over. Buttler’s dismissal also fired up Kohli, who was involved in an exchange with the opposition players, something that needed umpire’s intervention.
Three more wickets, including Malan’s, in quick succession effectively sealed the game for India. (PTI)
Scoreboard
India Innings
Rohit Sharma b Stokes 64
Virat Kohli not out 80
Suryakumar Yadav c Roy b Rashid 32
Hardik Pandya not out 39
Extras (LB-3,WD-6) 9
Total (For 2 wickets in 20 overs) 224
Fall of wickets: 1-94, 2-143.
Bowling: Adil Rashid 4-0-31-1, Jofra Archer 4-0-43-0, Mark Wood 4-0-53-0, Chris Jordan 4-0-57-0, Sam Curran 1-0-11-0, Ben Stokes 3-0-26-1.
England Innings
Jason Roy b Bhuvneshwar 0
Jos Buttler c Hardik b Bhuvneshwar 52
Dawid Malan b Thakur 68
Jonny Bairstow c Suryakumar b Thakur 7
Eoin Morgan c sub b Hardik 1
Ben Stokes c Pant b Natarajan 14
Chris Jordan c Suryakumar b Thakur 11
Jofra Archer run out 1
Sam Curran not out 14
Adil Rashid not out 0
Extras: (lb 9, w 11) 20
Total: (For 8 wkts in 20 overs) 188
Fall of Wickets: 1/0 2/130 3/140 4/142 5/142 6/165 7/168 8/174
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-15-2, Hardik Pandya 4-0-34-1, Washington Sundar 1-0-13-0, Shardul Thakur 4-0-45-3, T Natarajan 4-0-39-1, Rahul Chahar 3-0-33-0.
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