England vs India 2018, 3rd T20I: 3 Unnoticed things from the match

After a convincing win in the tour opener against the hosts, India saw an off day at Cardiff to bring it down to the series decider in 3rd T20I at Bristol.

On a yet another hot English afternoon, India won the toss and decided to bowl on a fluffy looking pitch which was believed to offer something to the fast bowlers. Virat Kohli, riding on the policy of horses for courses, made 3 changes to hand Deepak Chahar his T20I debut alongside Siddarth Kaul, who got his 2nd game on this UK tour. England looked confident to play Ben Stokes in place of Joe Root.

The wicket behaved in a peculiar fashion with absolutely no movement for the fast bowlers as the English openers smashed their way to an unbeaten 73-run stand in first six overs. Lower order blitz from the likes of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow saw England post a hefty total of 198 runs in their 20 overs.

Chasing a mountain high 199 to seal the series, India didn’t start in the most promising fashion as Shikhar Dhawan fell early. But it was Rohit Sharma who looked in some form as he blazed his way to a remarkable ton off just 56 balls to see his side on course with the required rate. In the end, some lower order blasting from Hardik Pandya saw India cruise to victory with 7 wickets to spare to win the T20I series.

Here’s a look at some of the things that went unnoticed:

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#1 England post their highest ever T20I powerplay score against India

It was a game with all to play for as the hosts started on a positive note, hammering Indian bowlers in all parts of the ground. The openers gave their side a brisk start as Jos Buttler and Jason Roy smashed runs for fun.

They went onto bat their way for less than eight overs to post a 94-run stand in quick time. Roy played the anchor role after a careful start. He blazed a 31-ball 67 with 4 fours and 7 sixes to give his side the real impetus in the beginning.

In due course, England managed their highest T20I powerplay score against the men in blue. It was just a matter of time after the quick start when England mustered 73 runs in the first six overs. This gave the platform for the batters to follow to strike from the ball one. In the end, quick fiery innings from the likes of Stokes and Bairstow, England posted their highest T20I score against India in last ten years.

#2 MS Dhoni becomes first wicket-keeper to take 5 catches in a T20I game

After celebrating his 37th birthday on Saturday, former India skipper walked on to the field, eyeing yet another T20I series win, possibly India’s third consecutive T20I series win on foreign soil. But things didn’t go as per plan as the bowlers conceded way too much on a wicket that just runs on offer. However, India pulled back things nicely after England got off to a berserk start, scoring 100 in less than ten overs.

A possible 200 was on the cards before MS Dhoni showed us why he is the best wicket-keeper in the world by plucking up a few low catches and even judged a high ball to perfection. In due course, he claimed five catches and became the first wicket-keeper to achieve this feat in a T20 International game. The 37-year-old even took his 50th catch as a wicketkeeper in T20I, the most for any wicketkeeper in the history of the shortest format of the game.

#3 Jason Roy becomes third English to hit 7 sixes in a T20I innings

The flamboyant England opener was on a roll with his spectacular hitting against the Indian bowlers, especially in the first six overs. The right-handed batsman took full advantage of the shorter dimensions on the ground as he went on to hit the ball to probably all parts of the ground. It was a mesmerising knock after two successive failures so far in the series as he mustered 67 runs in real quick time.

It was one of those innings when Roy took the charge and hit more sixes than fours given the shorter boundaries at Bristol. He also became the third English batsman after Ravi Bopara and skipper Eoin Morgan to hit 7 or more sixes in a T20I innings. The hard-hitting Surrey batsman looked in sublime touch as he entertained one and all with his confident shot-making to set the tone for what was a mammoth total set by the hosts in the series decider.

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Which of these records were you already aware of? Tell us in the comments below!