OdishaLIVE Bureau
- India beat England in a high scoring game with both sides showcasing brilliant batting in 3rd Vitality T20 match.
- Man of the match Rohit Sharma scores a ton and helps India win the T20 series by 2-1
- Rohit Sharma adjudged Man of the Series
England and India came into this tie breaker with both winning one match in the series. India won the toss and opted to field first. Jason Roy and Jos Butler opened the innings for England. The pair put together an opening stand of 94 runs in just 7.4 overs with both Butler and Roy smashing the ball all around the park.
Explosive Jason Roy
Jason Roy scored his fifty in just 23 balls which involved 4 fours and 5 sixes. The pair almost looked indestructible until Siddharth Kaul bowled Butler in the 8th over for 34 runs. India further came back in the game when debutant Deepak Chahar got Jason Roy out. The Englishman was looking to get the ball down to the 3rd man but edged it to MS Dhoni who caught it with ease. He produced a valiant display and made 67 runs out of 30 balls. There were two new batsmen in the form of skipper Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales.
Hardik breaks through
England continued to put runs on the scoreboard with Alex Hales at the heart of it. But soon, Hardik Pandya got skipper Eoin Morgan out for just 6 runs in the 14th over when Morgan sent the ball straight up into air and MS Dhoni took the catch magnificently, although getting tripped by the stumps. Morgan was dropped moments before when Chahal failed to catch the ball. Alex Hales hit Pandya for a six in the same over but got caught by MS Dhoni yet again in the next ball after making 30 runs in 23 balls.
There were again two new batsmen at the crease in the form of Johnny Bairstow and Ben Stokes. They made a handy partnership with Bairstow smashing more of the ball and took England’s total to 177 until Stokes got caught by Virat Kohli in the 18th over. Bairstow also got out in the same over, bowled by Hardik Pandya after he edged the ball to MS Dhoni who was enjoying a great day behind the stumps. India continued to take wickets and restricted England to post a score of 198.
Mahi Way
Hardik Pandya bowled intelligently, changing his pace more often and took 4 wickets while giving 38 runs in his 4 overs. MS Dhoni took 5 catches while also getting Chris Jordan Run out with a bullet of a throw.
Jake dives for the Ball
India started their run chase in great form with Rohit Sharma smashing the ball from the word go. They posted 21 runs in 2 overs until Shikhar Dhawan got out after Jake Ball produced a brilliant diving catch. But, India were not fazed by the early wicket and Rohit continued to smash the ball. KL Rahul was giving a useful support at theother end and the pair took India’s total to 62 runs in just 5 overs. But he got out in the 6th over when he looked to clear the boundary and was caught brilliantly by Chris Jordan.
Sharma and Kohli consolidate innings
Skipper Kohli stepped in at No.4 looking to provide the much-needed stability. Rohit Sharma at the other end continued his form and smashed the ball all over the park. Virat Kohli also joined the party and got some runs under his belt. The pair registered a partnership of 89 runs until Kohli placed the ball straight into the hands of bowler Chris Jordan and was out after making 43 runs of 28 balls.
In came Hardik Pandya who was sent to finish the game because of his hard-hitting batting. Sharma at the other end still continued to time the ball and was getting runs. He soon got his hundred in just 56 balls which involved 11 fours and 5 sixes. Pandya finished the game in style with a six and India won the match with 8 balls to spare.
Rohit Sharma was awarded the man of the match and as well as the man of the series. Indiaclinched the series 2-1 from England and will be hoping to take this form into the ODI and Test series.
(Story: Raunaq Dash, edit: Sriram Singh Rattan)
