Ind vs Eng: 6-star performance by Chahal helps India clinch series against England
Bengaluru: India have completed a remarkable comeback victory to defeat England 2-1 in the three-match T20I sereies, and the third and final game by 75 runs.
Young spinner Yuzvendra Chahal starred with the ball, picking up six wickets, for just 25 runs in his quota of 4 overs. His performance earned him the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series awards.
Jasprit Bumrah, who was the MoM for the second T20I match in Nagpur, also had a good day, as he picked up three wickets.
India leggie Amit Mishra also added to the immense pressure on the England batsmen, bowling out his quota of four overs for just 23 runs, as India wrapped-up the England innings by the 17th over.
Earlier, India had posted a massive total of 202, with Suresh Raina (63) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56) hitting the England bowlers all over the park. Southpaw Yuvraj Singh also helped with the run rate, as he smashed 27 runs off 10 balls.
England: 127 all out from 16.3 overs
Tymal Mills edges a Bumrah delivery, and Virat Kohli takes an easy catch to wrap-up a brilliant 2-1 win over England in the three-match T20I series.
England: 127/9 from 16.1 overs
WICKET! Bumrah knocks over Plinkett's stumps. Its party-time for India! One more wicket to win the series.
England: 127/8 from 16 overs
What a spell by Chahal. Tossed his delivery up against Jordan, who went for a wild swing. Dhoni easily collected the ball and whipped off the bails.
England: 127/7 from 15.1 overs
WICKET! Chahal picks up his 5th wicket! Gets bot Moeen Ali and the dangerous Ben Stokes in the same over.
England: 119/5 from 14.2 overs
WICKET! Jos Buttler goes for the big pull, but only manages to top-edge it into the sky. Kohli takes an easy catch at mid-off.
England: 119/4 from 13.4 overs
Chahal picks up his first wicket! Morgan goes after top-edging a big sweep. Joe Root, who crossed over, was trapped LBW in the next ball. Ben Stokes negotiates the hattrick ball with relative comfort though.
England: 117/2 from 13 overs
Another brilliant over by Mishra. Just 4 runs off it. Piles the pressure straight back on England.
England: 92/2 from 12 overs
Raina into the attack, and Morgan welcomes him by lofting him off for three sixes. That was a huge over for England. 22 runs off it.
England: 92/2 from 11 overs
Good over by Amit Mishra. Gave just six runs off it. The required run rate has climbed up above 12 for the first time in the match.
England: 86/2 from 10 overs
Root walks down the track and smacks a short ball by Pandya into the stands. Completely negates the lack of pace with his footwork. 9 runs off that over, but the pressure is mounting further on England.
England: 77/2 from 9 overs
Captain Morgan is getting into the act. Two boundaries off the first two balls makes this a huge over for England. 13 off that over.
England: 64/2 from 8 overs
Root hit Pandya for a six in the first ball, but the bowler came back well in the rest of the over. Gives away only 8 in that over.
England: 55/2 from 6.2 overs
WICKET! Amit Mishra into the attack, and he picks up a wicket with his second ball. Jason Roy wnet for the big sweep, but top edged it, as Dhoni took an easy catch.
England: 55/1 from 6 overs
Another big over for England. Jason Roy is taking the attack to the Indian bowlers. Hits a crisp 4 against Nehra.
England: 44/1 from 5 overs
Joe Root is showing his class out there. Although he is not known for explosive shots, he gets a big over out of Bumrah, playing a classy cut shot for four.
England: 34/1 from 4 overs
The required run rate is creeping up for England. Anything less that 10 runs an over will pile the pressure up for England from hereon.
England: 7/1 from 1.2 overs
WICKET! However, Chalah comes back strongly with the wicket of Sam Billings.
Chahal into the attack, and Roy welcomes him with a well-timed six with a reverse sweep. That was so cleanly hit, it just sailed into the crowd.
England: 1/0 from 1 over
A very good opening over from Nehra there. Had a few lbw shouts, and gave away just one run off it.
India: 202/6 from 20 overs
A big last over there. Hardik Pandya struck a few firmly-hit shots to take India past the 200-run mark. Pandya and Pant tried to take take 2 runs, but the former did not make it to his crease in time.
India: 191/5 from 19.2 overs
WICKET! Dhoni tries to hook, but the ball catches his gloves and goes straight to Adil Rashid.
India: 186/4 from 19 overs
Rishabh Pant ends that over on a high note, as the smacks Mills for a four square on the leg side. Eight runs off that over. More importantly, Dhoni retains the strike in the last over.
India: 177/4 from 18.1 overs
WICKET! A well-disguised slower delivery by Mills. It stopped so much on Yuvraj that the southpaw got confused and edged and easy catch to Buttler behind the wickets.
India: 177/3 from 18 overs
Yuvraj Singh is rolling back the years. Gets 24 runs from that over.
India: 153/3 from 17 overs
Dhoni makes it look so easy. Hit a flat six off Stokes, with just a flick of the wrists. The ex-skipper is on 49 now.
India: 141/3 from 16 overs
Dhoni has taken charge after the dismissal of Raina. This is the kind of explosive batting that the Indian cricket fans have been yearning for in the last couple of games.
India: 132/3 from 15 overs
MS Dhoni is getting into the act. The Indian batsmen seem to have finally woken up in the final T20.
India: 124/3 from 14 overs
WICKET! Although he went for a few runs, Plunkett managed to pick up the important wicket of Suresh Raina.
India: 113/2 from 13 overs
A huge over for India...just like the huge sixes that both Dhoni and Raina are piling-up on England right now.
India: 99/2 from 12 overs
Both Raina and Dhoni are rolling back the years. It seems like they are back in the days when they used to rule the IPL at Chennai Super Kings. Raina brings up his half century in style with a lofted sweep.
India: 84/2 from 11 overs
Another good over by Moeen. Just 6 runs off it. There could have been more runs as Dhoni smacked one after coming down the track. However the ball hit his partner Raina. That must be painful.
Update: KL Rahul decided not to wait for the no-ball replay after Stokes knocked over his middle stump. However, later replays showed that that particular delivery by Stokes was indeed a no-ball. England got lucky with that dismissal. Does this level-up Joe Root's ghost LBW from the Nagpur T20?
India: 78/2 from 10 overs
India are going at a good pace this game, with Suresh Raina leading the charge. Used Adil Rashid's pace to hit a couple of good shots in that over.
India: 70/2 from 9 overs
Very good over from Moeen Ali, as Dhoni comes out to bat. Just 3 runs from that over.
India: 65/2 from 7.2 overs
WICKET! A timely wicket for england. Just when Rahul and Raina were beginning to take the attack to England, the former throws away his wicket. He completely missed a straight delivery by Stokes, as the ball bent on to strike the middle stump.
India: 64/1 from 7 overs
KL Rahul dances down the track and hits Moeen's delivery into the Bengaluru night sky. There's no way that ball is coming back.
India: 53/1 from 6 overs
England have peppered Raina with a few bouncers, but the southpaw answers back, hooking Chris Jordan for a six. Raina backed that up with abother well-timed six on the leg side. These shots are putting England under pressure.
India: 39/1 from 5 overs
Another good over for India. Raina managed to squeeze a boundary through the point region. India need at least a boundary every over to post a challenging total.
India: 29/1 from 4 overs
Much better from India. A couple of boundaries by Rahul eases the pressure on the hosts.
India: 17/1 from 3 overs
Mills is generating tremendous pace and bounce on this Bengaluru wicket, something that surprised Rahul. However, Suresh Raina made use of the pace to hit a smart six off the last ball. Good over for India.
India: 8/1 from 2 overs
Great bowling by Jordan. Gave away only four in that over. More importantly, he exhibited some good fielding off his own bowling, to dismiss India skipper Kohli.
India: 4/1 from 1.1 over
WICKET! England get their danger man! Virat Kohli was looking for the quick single, as the England fielders went up in appeal for an LBW. However, that run was never on, and Jordan did well to pick up the ball and hit the stumps from close range.
India: 4/0 from 1 over
Decent start by both the sides. Tymal Mills waivered with his line a couple of times, but has looked steady otherwise.
Toss: England have won the toss for a third successive time in the three-match T20I series. Consistent with his former choices, Eoin Morgan decides to field first.
Teams:
India: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Amit Mishra, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra.
England: Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills
Update: Rishabh Pant is all set to make his debut in Team India colours, as he receives his first India cap from former India wicketkeeper and current national team selector Saba Karim.
Rishabh Pant receives his first India cap from former India wicketkeeper and current national team selector Saba Karim. (Photo: BCCI)
India have had difficulties with their batting lineup in the first two T20Is. the batting lineup has not been able to set a substantial total in this series yet.
Virat Kohli, who has had an exceptional season, has failed to transform his form from the longer formats of the game to the T20s, having played the two matches as an opener.
Pant, who regularly opens the batting for IPL side Delhi Daredevils, is expected to come out to bat with KL Rahul, in the latter's home ground in Bangalore, while the India skipper is expected to be dropped to no. 3.
Bengaluru: D-Day has arrived! The third and final T20I between India and England is set to get underway in Bengaluru on Wednesday – a match that will decide the winner of the three-match T20I series.
While India have won almost everything so far on England’s tour to the sub-continent – 4-0 in the five-match Test series, and 2-1 in the three-game ODI series – the Three Lions have dominated the proceedings in the two T20 matches so far.
Eoin Morgan’s side have looked much more comfortable in the shortest format of the game, ever since their run to the T20 world Cup final in India last year.
England bowlers have been exceptional in the last two games, picking up Indian wickets at regular intervals. The likes of Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan have all done brilliantly to stifle the runs in the death overs.
Meanwhile, India have had problems a-plenty in the shortest format so far. Their batting lineup seems to lack the balance that led them to success in the longer formats.
Despite the fact that the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ashish Nehra have been impressive with the ball, the bowlers have not been given a substantial total to defend by the batting order.
It will be interesting to see whether India captain Virat Kohli decides to change his team around for final T20, or whether he would back the same set of players to get the job done against England, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
