Win the toss, opt to chase, win the match — that’s the formula of success in the India-England T20I series in Ahmedabad.
Tuesday’s game reaffirmed that as England chased down India’s 156/6 in 18.2 overs and their eight-wicket win gave them a 2-1 lead in the five-game series.
One big difference between the two sides was how they batted in the first 10 overs of their respective innings. India’s Powerplay score was 24/3 while in 10 overs they managed 55/3. England were 57/1 and 83/2 at the same stages.
In fact, had it not been for some individual brilliance from Virat Kohli (77 not out off 46 balls, 8x4, 4x6), India would have fared worse.
For England, Jason Roy (9) fell cheaply, but his opening partner Jos Buttler was at his fluent best, scoring 83 not out off 52 balls (5x4, 4x6), his highest in the format. Jonny Bairstow contributed 40 not out off 28 balls.
Virat Kohli during the third T20I against England at the Motera stadium on Tuesday. PTI
India kind of tied themselves up in knots with some of their baffling decisions on Tuesday.
Captain Kohli, defending a modest total, chose not to bowl Washington Sundar in the Powerplay when the young offie boasts of a fantastic economy and has earned quite a reputation in drying up runs at the start of the innings. As a result India leaked too many upfront.
Also debatable was India’s team selection and batting order.
To accommodate Rohit Sharma in the XI, the hosts dropped Suryakumar Yadav, who made his debut in the last game but didn’t get to bat. One may understand the logic behind an out-of-form KL Rahul retaining his place, his quality perhaps earns him that right, but even then it was grossly unfair on Suryakumar. Was there no way to avoid that?
One option could have been Kohli resting himself by handing over the skipper’s duties to Rohit. The idea, after all, is to test the newcomers. The ones who would sleepwalk into the Indian playing XI for the World Cup can surely afford to sit out a match or two.
The ploy of Rohit and Rahul opening the innings, with Ishan Kishan, who opened with distinction in the last game, pushed down to No.3 also rankled. There’s a thin line between being flexible with the batting order and being whimsical.
The England bowlers, however, stuck to their discipline and Mark Wood (3/31), riding his relentless pace, removed both the India openers.
Rahul (0) fell first, bowled through the gateway between his bat and pad. His sequence of scores in this series now reads 1, 0, 0. Rohit (15) followed soon after, caught at short fine leg while attempting a desperate pull.
Young Ishan Kishan (4) could not replicate his debut success while Rishabh Pant (25 off 20 balls) was run out.
It was only after Kohli shifted gears like a master at the wheel that the Indian innings gathered momentum. The hosts stole 69 runs from the last five overs, out of which 49 came from the captain’s bat.
A win, on most occasions, is a sum total of rights and India erred in stacking up the right pieces.
