AHMEDABAD : Team India did not disappoint their fans in a must-win game yesterday as they won the T20 against England by 8 runs. After losing the toss and being put to bat first yet again, India announced the changes to their XI as Suryakumar came in the side for a sidelined Kishan due to an injury and a like-for-like replacement for Yuzvendra Chahal in Rahul Chahar was the second change. Whereas England did not find the need to disturb a winning combination.

On the first ball of the match itself, Rohit lifted an over-pitched delivery from Rashid for a six over mid-off and then fetched a boundary behind square-leg in the same over. At the other end, Rahul did get off to a start but he was not able to score as freely as he is known to score those runs. Both the quick bowlers, Wood and Archer seldom gave anything to the Indian batsmen beyond a length delivery which meant that there were no attempted drives by the batsmen in the powerplay and you could see that when Rohit was dismissed by Jofra. He bowled a slower length delivery which the batsman mistimed straight into his hands. Since India lost their first wicket within the powerplay once again, they needed someone to increase the tempo at least untill those six overs of the powerplay were complete.

Suryakumar Yadav, playing his first international innings delivery hooks a 143 kph bouncer from Jofra for a six and then punches the ball off the back foot through covers for a boundary. Each of the scoring shots that he played were refreshing to the eye because of his unorthodox style of batting. His effort took India to 45/1 at the end of the first six overs.

📷 (BCCI:Twitter)

Later in two successive overs, India lost Rahul and Virat-who does not usually misread the turn and explore out of the crease for a wild swing of the bat. The fall of wickets slowed down the run-rate by some margin untill the twelvth over when Surya reached his maiden fifty in T20 internationals. The middle-order batsmen Pant and Iyer understood the need to maximize the start that was provided by the top order and began to tee off towards the end of the middle overs. Iyer was mighty impressive during his 37 off 18 which came at a strike-rate of 205.6. He allowed India’s total to elevate to 185/8. An issue that was highlighted during the match was the third umpire’s decision-making. He was poor at giving a few obvious calls despite being provided with the best of technology.

To stem the flow of runs, India needed to dismiss Buttler early or else the powerplay could cost for a lot eventually leading to a smooth run-chase for England. But, Bhuvi was brilliant to dismiss Buttler along with an unfamiliar opening bowler in Hardik who’s pace-off -the-delivery style of bowling worked to his advantage. England managed to reach 48/1 due to an expensive 17-run over from Sundar in the last over of the powerplay. The chase was full of twists and turns with the match going down to the last over. After two wickets fell off two successive 8th and 9th overs, England’s onslaught against the spinners in the middle overs nearly shifted the tide in their favour. The two batsmen Stokes and Bairstow were looking dangerous and if not for Chahar dismissing Bairstow in the 14th over, the match might have had a different result.

At this point England were 140/4 with Stokes and Morgan at the crease. Virat had just left the field to prevent a minor injury as Thakur ran in to bowl in his third over. England were desperate to score as we saw that when Stokes and Morgan tried to clear the fence which could only travel as far as the fielder. The match had not finished yet as a lot of us thought it did but Jofra scored 11 runs off the first three balls in the final over which made the upcoming deliveries much more relevant. Then, two wides from Thakur brought the target down to 10 off 3 balls after which India could finally breathe a sigh of relief as a single run and a wicket in the following two balls sealed the game for them.

The match was narrowly won by India in the end and SuryaKumar was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

Brief scores : India 185/8 : Suryakumar 57 (31) ; Jofra 4-0-33-4.

England 177/8 : Stokes 46 (23) : Thakur 4-0-42-3.

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