Virat Kohli lost the toss but won in every other department to lead India to a 3-2 T20I series victory over England on Saturday.
The pitch at the Motera stadium changed from “tacky” to batsman-friendly over the last few days and India adapted far better to the conditions.
Captain Kohli (80 not out off 52 balls) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (64 off 34) were at the top of their game, propelling India to a massive 224/2 — their highest-ever total against England in the shortest format of the game — after being asked to bat by the visitors.
Despite chasing a daunting total, England were very much in the game till Jos Buttler (52 off 34 balls) and Dawid Malan (68 off 46 balls) were at the crease. But the change of pace again helped India, who had defended 180-odd in the previous game. Once Buttler and Malan departed, the English chase fell apart.
India kept chipping away with wickets to win the game by a handsome margin of 36 runs, restricting England to 188/8.
If it was Rohit and Kohli in the first half, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star for India in the second. On a pitch having practically nothing for bowlers, Bhuvneshwar bowled 17 dot balls and finished with superb figures of 2/15 from his four overs.
He bowled the length that the English bowlers didn’t — tight stump-to-stump line, swinging the ball back into the batsman denying him space and also surprising him at times with extra pace. Bhuvi’s ploy earned him the wicket of the dangerous Jason Roy in the first over of England’s innings.
At 130/1 in the 13th over, England were still very much in the game as Buttler and Malan were batting with absolute dominance. Kohli handed the ball over to Bhuvneshwar and he struck immediately, creating pressure with dot balls to Buttler before deceiving him with pace.
Buttler’s dismissal clearly affected Malan’s rhythm and he too perished soon after. From thereon, the otherwise dynamic England middle order had just too much to do.
Earlier, with KL Rahul finally dropped, India’s new opening pair of Kohli and Rohit laid the foundation for the 200-plus total. Credit also goes to Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 17 balls) and Hardik Pandya (39 not out off 17 balls) for their contributions that ensured England were under pressure right through.
During the opening stand, Rohit was the aggressor, unleashing strokes whenever the ball was there in his striking arc. Kohli was content playing second fiddle.
The England bowlers once again paid the price for not varying their pace on such a pitch. Both Jofra Archer, who may return home to tend to his elbow, and Mark Wood made the mistake of trying to work up pace when they should have been varying their pace, using slower deliveries more.
Following Rohit’s dismissal, Suryakumar, coming in at No.3, took up the baton. The English bowlers again looked clueless against him till a superb piece of athleticism from Chris Jordan in the deep forced his departure against the run of play.
That hardly bothered India though as Kohli, in the company of Pandya, kept the scoreboard moving.
