A masterclass innings from Jos Buttler (52-ball 83) helped England stun a confident India by handling them a 8-wicket defeat at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. With this win, the visitors have taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series.
Toss has played a crucial role in every match of the ongoing T20 series. The team that wins the toss, wins the match as well. Today, England won the toss and asked India to bat first.
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Defending 157 at Motera, Indian fast-bowlers, despite having a great start, failed to take breakthroughs when it was required and leaked away runs. England scored 57 runs in the powerplay and it was this moment when India’s fate was sealed. Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar picked one wicket each. India’s fielding was also very unimpressive today as both Kohli and Chahal dropped one catch each.
Jason Roy (9) and Buttler added 23 runs for the first wicket for England. After Roy’s dismissal, Buttler strengthened England by sharing 39-ball 58 run stand with David Malan (18) for the second wicket.
After Malan was dismissed, Butler scored an unbeaten 77-run partnership for the third wicket with Johnny Bairstow (40*) to power England to a resounding 8-wicket win.
Virat Kohli’s Hard-Fought Fifty Powers India To 156/6
After a superb bowling spell from speedster Mark Wood (3/31) rattled the India’s top-order, skipper Virat Kohli (46-ball 77*) scored a fiery fifty and stiched record breaking 33-ball 70 run 6th wicket partnership with Hardik Pandya (15-ball 17*) to power India to 156/6 after 20 overs.
England enjoyed a dream start today after Mark Wood and Chris Jordan made great use of Motera’s bouncy track to remove India’s three top-order batsmen – KL Rahul (0), Rohit Sharma (15) and Ishan Kishan (4) – inside the powerplay.
After Rishabh Pant’s (20-ball 25) unfortunate run-out, Iyer’s (9-ball 9) quick exit increased the pressure on India but captain Virat Kohli scored his 27th T20I fifty to propel his team to 156/6.
After a shambolic loss in the series-opener, India won the second T20 match by 7 wickets to level the series 1-1. With a superb win in today’s game, England have now taken a 2-1 lead in the series. The fourth T20I match between the two teams will take place on 18th March, Thursday.
