Image source: Indian Express
BENGALURU: Ever since the start of the just-concluded T20 series against the England, the Indian batsmen have not quite shown their true character and have struggled at times to put a comfortable target for England to chase. However, the scene has reversed at the batting paradise ‘Bengaluru’ pitch. The Indian batsmen have expressed themselves putting a massive target of 203 runs on the board. Yet, an interesting point to note is that the bowlers have dominated once again in the third and the final T20, giving India a record win by 75 runs!
Coming to the match details as happened, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has once again lost the toss with England choosing to field first. The opening pair woes for the Indian cricket team has continued once again, with Virat Kohli (2) departing for a runout. It is Suresh Raina, the T20 specialist who has played the role of an anchor to steady the Indian innings towards a massive score. The dashing batsman has amassed 63 runs, with 5 sixes and 2 boundaries taking India to a comfortable position before he fell to Plunkett in the 14th over.
Captain Virat Kohli has made the right decision by sending Mahendra Singh Dhoni in, immediately after Suresh Raina departed. The move had paid off well for India with MS Dhoni scoring his maiden half-century. In addition, a cameo from Yuvraj Singh (27) in the 18th over gave India a much-needed push to eventually cross the 200-mark, the Guardian reports.
Though India posted a massive target of 203 runs, it has always looked achievable for England with the likes of Jason Roy (32) and Joe Root (42). Not to forget, the average first innings score in IPL at the Bengaluru is 197 runs, which means that a target of 200 runs is very much possible with the ball coming on nice to the bat.
Everything went on good for England until the 14th over bowled by spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, which saw two set batsmen Joe Root and skipper Morgan returning to the pavilion. Soon after followed the great England batting collapse, losing eight wickets for eight runs. Thanks to Chahal’s 6/25, also the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler in T20s which has sealed the victory for India. England has fallen from 119/2 to 127/10 which showed a lack of experience to handle pressure in the depth.
At the end, India has sealed the T20 series 2-1 by winning the third and the final T20 at Bengaluru by 75 runs. This also completes the England’s tour of India, which has earlier played a Test series and an ODI series losing both by 4-0 and 2-1 respectively.
India will next play a One-off test against the Bangladesh on February 8th, in Hyderabad. This will be the first test that Bangladesh will be playing on the Indian soil.
