India vs England 2020-21, 5th T20I: Power-hitting, all-round bowling effort ensures series win for India
India gave England something to fight for in the five-match Twenty20 International series. With the series locked 2-2, the deciding game in Ahmedabad went in India's favour, thus bringing England's eight-series unbeaten streak to an end, while India extended its to eight.
FollowTeam India produced an all-round performance to tame England in the fifth and final Twenty20 International at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stole the show with the bat, a consolidated bowling effort ensured a 36-run win for the host.
With this win, India ended England's eight-series unbeaten streak. Similarly, the host extended its unbeaten streak to eight series.
Eoin Morgan won the toss yet again and invited India to bat as he went in with the same squad. Kohli made a change for India, bringing in pacer T Natarajan for out-of-form wicketkeeper-opening batsman KL Rahul.
Nonetheless, the Indian openers accepted England's call to bat first, as Rohit and Kohli went all guns blazing, especially from the second over. At the end of the powerplay, India was 60/0, going at a rate of 10.00.
During the course, Rohit brought up his 12th T20I half-century. As the duo contributed to a 94-run opening stand, Rohit was the first to depart in the ninth over, as pacer Ben Stokes bowled him up for 64.
In came Suryakumar Yadav and went right after the bowlers, contributing to a 49-run stand for the second wicket. Nonetheless, after scoring 32, he departed following a catch by Jason Roy. The latter was brilliantly assisted by Chris Jordan, as he handed it to Roy with one hand before going outside the boundary in the followthrough.
It marked the arrival of explosive all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who, along with Kohli, batted out until the end. During this phase, Kohli brought up his 28th T20I half-century, as India finished on 224/2.
Six were utilised for the English bowlers, with just a couple attaining success, while spinner Adil Rashid was the most economical of all. Although they somewhat managed to contain the runs in the middle overs, it wasn't enough to restrict Ithe Indians below 200.
Brief scores: India 224/2 (Rohit 64, Kohli 80*; Stokes 1/26) vs England
As England came out to chase, it was off to a shaky start, losing opener Jason Roy in the opening over, dismissed for an unfortunate duck after being knocked over by seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Nonetheless, fellow opener Jos Buttler, who with Dawid Malan, gave India a hard time.
The duo contributed to a 130-run stand for the second wicket, as Buttler brought up his 12th T20I half-century, while Malan scored his tenth. Just when it seemed that the game could slip away from India, Bhuvi gave the breakthrough once again, as Pandya caught Buttler for 52in the 13th over.
Ten runs later, Jonny Bairstow fell for seven to pacer Shardul Thakur after being caught by Suryakumar at the cover boundary in the 15th over. It began the slide for the visitor, who lost Malan for 68 in the very over after being bowled over, while Morgan followed the next over from Pandya after KL Rahul caught him.
It was followed by a brief 23-run stand between Stokes and Chris Jordan, as the former fell for 14 to Natarajan, caught behind by Rishabh Pant in the 19th over. The same over saw Archer being run out for a mere single, while the next over witnessed Jordan's departure for 11, caught by Suryakumar again off Thakur, with the host eventually winning by 36 runs.
For the Indians, six bowlers were utilised, with Thakur bring the most effective. Meanwhile, Bhuvi being the most effective and economical of all.
Brief scores: India 224/2 (Rohit 64, Kohli 80*; Stokes 1/26) beat England 188/8 (Buttler 52, Malan 68; Thakur 3/45) by 36 runs.
