Suryakumar Yadav scored a magnificent 117 runs but it was not enough for India to chase down a mammoth target of 216 runs against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The English bowlers managed to restrict India to 198/9 despite a valiant effort from Suryakumar who didn’t receive much support from the other end. However, India sealed the series 2-1.
Suryakumar became the fifth Indian batter to score a century in T20Is after Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Deepak Hooda. The 31-year-old played shots all around the ground to give India a fighting chance in the massive chase. His magnificent knock was laced with 14 fours and 6 sixes.
India vs England 3rd T20I Highlights
Chasing the mammoth target of 216, India lost Rishabh Pant early as he failed on his second stint as an opener and was dismissed on 1. Virat Kohli came out to bat at number 3 and he tried to embrace India’s fearless approach with the bat as he looked to hit a big shot despite getting a four and six on the last two balls. However, he miscued David Willey’s delivery as Jason Roy took a fine catch at cover which extended his lean patch. He scored 11 off 6 balls.
Skipper Rohit Sharma also had a tough time with the bat as he failed to score once again and was dismissed on 11. Rohit looked a bit rusty during his 11-ball stay in the middle as he failed to get the timing right on several occasions.
After losing the top 3 for just 31 runs in 5 overs, Suryakumar joined hands with Shreyas Iyer to revive the chase. The duo shared a massive 119-run stand for the fourth wicket to give India a fighting chance. However, Iyer didn’t look fluent during his 28-run knock as most of work was done by Suryakumar in the partnership.
India’s two designated finishers Dinesh Karthik (6) and Ravindra Jadeja (7) failed to give ample support to SKY who scored his maiden international century off 48 balls.
The 31-yead-old fought hard but the pressure was mounting on him to get job done on his own. He slammed Moeen Ali for a couple of fours and a six in the penultimate over to give fans some hope. However, Ali got the better of Suryakumar who tried to hit another big shot but was caught by Phill Salt.
For England, Reece Topley was the pick of bowlers with three scalps, while David Willey claimed two.
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Earlier, Dawid Malan made a sublime 77 off 39 balls as England put India’s second string attack to sword to finish with a mammoth 215 for seven.
Opting to bat, skipper Jos Buttler (18 off 9 balls) and Jason Roy (27 off 26) helped England reach 52 for 1 in six overs. Malan and Liam Livingstone (42 not out off 29) then shared an entertaining 84-run partnership to set the platform for a massive total.
Having already sealed the series, India rested their frontline bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal, besides star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
In the absence of senior bowlers, Avesh Khan and Umran Malik received hammering from the England batters, but Ravi Bishnoi (2/30) and Harshal Patel (2/35) turned out to be positive for the visitors.
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