FIFTH T20I - REVIEW
Paytm T20 Series - IND Vs ENG
RESULT - Team India Wins By 36 Runs
Men in Blue registered a thumping victory over England in the finale,to clinch the T20 series. This was a super dominant performance by team india with the bat. It was for the first time in this series, team india post a score,in excess of 200. Courtesy of skipper Kohli, who surprised in the finale as well with the selection policy & importantly positioning the line up. In this epic fixture, K.L.Rahul been rested & guess what - Virat opened the batting along with Rohit & T.Natrajan, a left arm pacer makes an entry, straight away in the finals.
TOSS - BACKFIRED ENGLAND
English skipper must be regretting with a decision to field first. On this flat track, english team was expecting a score of 180-190. But, english bowler leaked too many runs & men in blue post a humongous score of 224. Well, when Rohit in the power-play & Virat at the death are on song, bowlers can't do much. Chasing 224 was always going to be a herculean task & attempting it, England find themselves 36 runs short. For England, toss decision backfired badly, that too in finale - too costly.
JOURNEY FROM - 124 TO 224
Yes, this is the same team crumbled to 124 in the very first fixture of this series & transformed into a super dominant & explosive team, by the end of series. This was a glimpse of what can happen when top-four of the team can strike & strike big. Still, Rishabh Pant & Shreyas Iyer were waiting in the wings. This was an experiential journey - but not an easy one for team india. But, they managed to tick their boxes by the end of the series. This journey, from 124 to 224 may very well prove to be the milestone for the future, especially when T20 World Cup is at a striking distance.
ROHIT-VIRAT - NIGHTMARE FOR THE OPPOSITION
Virat has stunned the cricketing world & all the fans, for one final time in this series. But everyone - players, spectators, fans, experts are so excited to see this change. It's Virat opening the innings along with Rohit. Rohit & Virat at the top, super explosion right from the word go. Well, any opposition will not like this at all. It was a nightmare for England in this match.
Rohit went on -all attacking mode after first over & when Rohit gets going then what can happen, the world knows. For the first time in the series, no wicket in power-play & team india all through the innings scored at an astounding rate of 11 runs per over.Virat is a smart cricketer - looking Rohit in attacking mode, skipper was a silent contributor. But, in the death overs indian skipper - Virat kohli exploded. Such is an impact & huge advantage of these two champions at the top. May god save bowlers !!
SURYA KUMAR YADAV - CEMENTS HIS PLACE
Surya kumar Yadav, this name is likely to feature more regularly in white ball cricket for sure. Team has seen enough of him & he is performing very consistently from a very long time. He is piling the runs in domestic circuit,be it - Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mushtaq Ali Trophy or Ranji Trophy. Now, BCCI rewarding him for his performances, by giving him opportunities in white ball cricket & man, he grabbed it with both the hands. His flexibility to play in different positions & performing there, makes him a valuable asset.
In this series three matches, two batting opportunities for him & what explosion we've seen with a balance. His ability to take the game away from the opposition & showing maturity makes him a long term asset for team india. It's so good to see him performing at this level. Surya kumar is cementing his place in team india - He belongs here !! He is in my T20 World Cup Squad - for sure !!
HARDIK PANDYA - THE ALL ROUND SHOW
After a super explosion of hitman & SKY, it was time for Hardik Pandya to show some fire-power along with skipper Virat Kohli. Hardik was promoted up the order,rightly so to give a push. He is a perfect, in a finisher role. In his short innings he scored 39 runs off just 17 balls with four boundaries & two biggies,at a staggering strike rate of 230. The damage was done & that's what he is really good at.
Hardik, as a bowler is making headlines in this series. His contribution with the ball has such a huge value for the team. Especially in this series decider,his economy was 8.50 & picked a wicket as well. His ability to explode with the bat & bowling those crucial overs for the team, make him the most valuable player & a striking all rounder for team india.
FRUGAL BHUVNESHWAR - THE MATCH WINNER
Bhuvneshwar Kumar,making a come back after a long time in white ball cricket & man, what a frugal spell in the decider. When all other bowlers were leaking boundaries, this speedster just conceded 15 runs & picked 02 big wickets - this is T20 cricket !! Bhuvi was truly a game changer because he picked the two big wickets of England at crucial times- one in the very first over of Jason Roy & then in the mid-overs, of Joss Buttler.
Buttler & Malan had a partnership of 130 runs, they were looking extremely dangerous & match was slipping from men in blue. Well just in snick of time, the spearhead of indian bowling attack, breaks the partnership & then it was a procession for english team. Bhuvi - Truly the match winner !!
SHARDUL THAKUR - A WICKET TAKING BOWLER
Shardul Thakur yet again proved his value in this match, by picking important wickets at crucial times of the game. In this series we saw, he could be really handy with the bat & he is a wicket taking bowler. He can be little expensive, like in the finale as well but he will get you wickets. In the finale, yet again he picked two prize wickets of Jonny Bairstow & Dawid Malan in the same over & shift the game towards team india. He was pick of the bowlers in the finale, in terms of wickets. He picked three wickets but he was expensive.
PARTNERSHIP OF THE MATCH - BUTTLER & MALAN
This was, by far the best partnership of the match.While chasing an impossible target, England loose Roy in the very first over & from there, these two explosive batsmen took the charge. They were scoring runs briskly - going at 12 runs per over. At halfway stage, they were ahead of the asking run rate. They has a 100 run partnership & looking very dangerous. It was threatening for team india, the game was slipping away from them. They had a partnership of 130 runs in just 12 overs. But, then Bhuvi breaks the partnership, by picking the big wicket of Buttler. This was surely the best partnership of the match.
CHRIS JORDAN - THE SUPERMAN
In the finale of T20 series, at Narendra Modi Stadium we've witnessed "Chris Jordan - The Superman", when he ran at a lightening speed to grab a flat batted power strike from Surya kumar Yadav. It was an impossible act. The record books will not tell this story, as this was a combo effort and the catch was completed by Roy. Awesome - Amazing - Superman - "Chris Jordan" !!
SERIES VERDICT
So,men in blue wrapped up the series with an emphatic win over the world champions of white ball cricket & clinched the series by 3-2. The scoreline tells the story, that it was a neck to neck contest & best of two teams in this format was battling out for everything, giving it all. This series was considered as a preparation for T20 World Cup & both the teams had their own things to figure out, which they did.
SCORES:-
IND - 224/2 (20.0 Overs)
ENG - 188/8 (20.0 Overs)
Player of The Match - Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Player of The Series - Virat Kohli
The greatest find for team india from this series is - "Surya Kumar Yadav & Ishaan Kishan". These young lads are just ready for the international circuit & they just need enough opportunities to establish them in the side.
Now, we're heading to One Day Internationals & expecting some juicy encounters between the top two teams of this format. This was a great series for both the teams, Team-India emerging out as the winners. A pulsating ODI series in prospect. See you in ODI series !!
Written By :- Saksham
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