India’s inept death bowling hurt them very badly as the target of 181 proved a tall order for the visitors, falling just short by mere 3 runs.
India’s inept death bowling hurt them very badly as the target of 181 proved a tall order for the visitors, falling just short by mere 3 runs.
Team India needed 17 runs in the final over of the match but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not guide the team home in a contest that went down to the wire as England ran home deserved winners in the end.
There were some positives coming out for the Men in Blue as Virat Kohli’s bat finally did some talking (66 off 44) who struck his first fifty of a two-month long torrid England tour.
Team India started off on a bad note with Ajinkya Rahane walking back early.
It was then down to Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan who added 79 runs for the second wicket.
They had raised India’s 50-run mark off the last ball of the sixth over itself and brought forth their 50-run partnership in the very next over, never easing off their attacking instinct. In fact their stand was the highest second wicket partnership for India against England in all the T20Is contested between the two teams so far.
But after a stiff resistance with the bat, Shikhar Dhawan went back to the pavilion while Virat’s determined 66 finally came to an end when the latter pulled off a short delivery only to be dismissed. In came Suresh Raina who wacked some balls out of the park but the former succumbed to the pressure of disciplined death bowling as a beautiful Yorker from Harry Gurney sent him back. It was all left for skipper MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to complete the formalities but the latter could not hang on much longer. Twenty six runs were required off the last two overs, and 17 off the last one, but with Dhoni at the crease, it didn’t look that tall an order.
While Ambati Rayudu struggled under pressure, the captain was cool as ever as he took 12 runs off the first four balls of the 20th, but all-rounder Chris Woakes held his nerve to seal off a sensational England victory. Eoin Morgan, who was the skipper for the day, was adjudged for his brilliant 81.
Earlier in the day, Morgan had won the toss and elected to bat first, making great use of the batting conditions. The hosts handed debut to Jason Roy, who began well but was sent back by Mohammed Shami. Alex Hales showed off his destructive side as the former wacked the Indians all over the stadium with cracking innings of 40.
But it was stand-in skipper Eoin Morgan who took advantage of the IPL familiarity of the Indian bowlers, taking them to the cleaners.
A late cameo by Ravi Bopara at the end saw, England reach a massive total of 180.
