India got out of jail and defended 144 in the to draw level with England in the 3-match T20 series. The series is now beautifully setup for the final showdown in Bangalore on February 1.
England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bowl first on a pitch which looked scuffed and had all the characteristics of a slow and sluggish surface. The Indian openers started slowly before captain Virat Kohli played some sparkling strokes. However. his cameo was short lived as he perished trying to force the issue against Chris Jordan.
KL Rahul finally found some form and played a brilliant innings of 71 and steered India to a competitive total of 144 in their 20 overs.
England started their reply with a touch of caution, as the Indian bowlers found good lengths on the tired pitch. Ashish Nehra was brilliant with the ball as he prized out both openers in successive balls to bring India back into the contest.
Joe Root dug deep and forged partnerships with first Eoin Morgan and then with Ben Stokes but in the end the final overs the death over bowling of India came to the fore and the hosts pulled off an amazing win.
Japsrit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra combined to produce 4 brilliant overs towards the end to hand the hosts a memorable win.
Here are the talking points from the match.
#5 Amit Mishra’s wicket from a no ball
Amit Mishra was included in the team after a long hiatus, and after a slow start, he found his groove. He prized out the wicket of England captain Eoin Morgan with an off-spinner.
Against Ben Stokes, he decided to come around the wicket and produced an absolute brute of a googly which left Stokes completely befuddled as the ball whizzed past his outside and castled the stumps. The stadium erupted, but it all came down to nothing as the leg spinner overstepped.
Not only was Stokes given a reprieve he played a brilliant innings of 38 which almost did the job for the visitors.
#4 KL Rahul back in form
The young Karnataka batsman was under pressure as he hardly got any runs in the limited overs leg of the tournament, and there were plenty of scrutiny around his position at the top of the order.
However, Rahul brushed aside all the criticism and produced a stellar innings of 71 and played a sheet anchor’s role right through. On a difficult pitch he gauged the pace perfectly and played some delightful strokes all around the park.
#3 India’s problems in the middle order
There were concerns when India picked Yuvraj Singh for the T20 squad, as the middle order of the hosts looked a little out of sorts for the second match in succession.
Along with Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina too struggled in the middle overs and could not get the scoreboard moving which impeded the flow of runs both in the middle phase and then towards the end.
The management would have to take a look at this problem going forward especially.
#2 England's death bowling
The England pace bowling department put up and spectacular show both with the new ball and then towards the death.
The combination of Tymal Mills, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes were brilliant in the final 5 overs and with their skills prevented the onslaught from the Indian batsmen.
The visitors gave away just 36 runs in the final 5 overs and managed to restrict India to a below-par total of 144.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah’s final over heroics
Jasprit Bumrah was one of the finds of the previous season, but his form dipped a bit in the ongoing limited overs tournament. However, the Gujarat man produced an absolute beauty of a last over where he defended 8 runs and won the match for his team by 5 wickets.
Bumrah was up against Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Moeen Ali, but he held his nerve perfectly and bowled with remarkable consistency and guile to keep the batsmen guessing. He even picked up the crucial wickets of Jos Buttler and Joe Root which helped India pull off an amazing heist.
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